I have been unemployed now for almost six weeks. More accurately, I have been minimally employed for almost six weeks. Last November, after a summer of lots of soul searching, I decided that the time had come for me to quit my full-time day job to have more time for working on books (three very…
Tag: Poetry
Book Review: How Should One Read a Book?
“Most commonly we come to books with blurred and divided minds, asking of fiction that it shall be true, or poetry that it shall be false, of biography that it shall be flattering, of history that is shall enforce our own prejudices. If we could banish all such preconceptions when we read, that would be…
Bedfellows
I can’t believe we’re here again. We stare intensely at each other.But,we’re not actually seeing anything.There’s nothing more to look at,nothing to be said.The same story has been told one too many times.We’re caught in a perpetual charade of power dynamics.Me: thinking I am the master,Him: knowing that he holds the controls.Many things are being…
Off line – Pt. 2
What do you do when you stand in line? Can you wait patiently? Can you maintain focus on the back of your predecessor’s head? Can you keep your mind engaged without a glance at technology? What about in the nonlinear lines in which we spend our time— the doctor’s office, the DMV, the pew of…
Off line – Pt. 1
Lines are important. They provide boundaries and create structures. Boundaries are healthy. Without boundaries: I might overstep, might overwork, might overshare. Structures hold me up. With structures: I can thrive, I can rest, I can stand strong. What’s kind of funny is that when people think of “lines” they think: Level, straight, vertical, horizontal, diagonal….
Book Review: World of Wonders
Have you ever been so enthralled by a book that you were at once inspired to go create and yet totally contented to sit and just be in the present moment? Such was the case for me in reading World of Wonders: In Praise of Fireflies, Whale Sharks, and Other Astonishments by Aimee Nezhukumatathil. One…
Be still. Do Less.
The past seven months have been weird. In the spring, the pandemic forced everything to close down and all my extracurricular activities and side hustles to temporarily cease and desist. My body and mind rested and remembered the joys of peace and quiet. I made reading, baking, painting, working out, cooking, self-care and cleaning weekly…
L.M. Beatty 