Feeling stuck with a writing project, I sensed drawing would provide precious non-verbal relief. Sometimes, moving away from language is…

The effects of a well-timed visit ripple out into the future — I’m in the neighborhood on a late summer’s day and find myself on Cottage Street. I walk past old Mrs. Kennedy’s place and remember that time she brought out two glasses of orange juice for Nancy and me as we played hopscotch in Nancy’s driveway. …

With a little help from my husband — and my father — When we lived in Minnesota, my husband I were having lunch out on our patio one afternoon in late April. As we ate and talked, I glanced down and noticed a big, hairy, black and yellow bumblebee crawling in my direction. …

Some people save our lives without even knowing they’ve touched them. — Once when I found myself deep in the anxious muck of being the target of bullies, I had an experience that transformed me into a person I would have least expected to help me. It happened in the late fall of 7th grade. I was being threatened and pursued every…

Feelings matter. Why has this been so hard to realize? — Boxes of journals gathering dust Several years ago, I met with a memoir writing teacher for help with mining journals that had accumulated over time. I was convinced that there were valuable insights buried in all that writing but had no clue how to begin excavating and shaping it. In retrospect, I believe she was…

One in three people are highly sensitive. If you’re one of them, self-awareness and acceptance are the keys to unlocking its greatest gift: self-compassion. — I arrived at my one-on-one Zoom session with Anisha to discuss why, after a year and half of participating in our online Authentic Communication Group, I still felt awkward and vaguely anxious during our group sessions much of the time. “I am so distracted by negative self beliefs that it’s…

Conversations of any depth will eventually land on politics. What to do? — A strange dream In my dream, I am somehow having a meal with dangerous people in a restaurant. It all happens quickly: the person sitting beside me tries to touch my face and head area and put his hands around my neck. I am desperately certain that I cannot let him do this…

A few days ago, my husband and I had to say goodbye to Herbert, our best little buddy of nine years. Though he had been in gradual decline for a few months, we didn’t think he was sick — just slowing down, maybe. But then we noticed he couldn’t use…

Learn to calm the inner critic by stepping back and using strategies that work best for you — “This article is submitted to the June-August writing competition on creativity and resilience.” In an early childhood memory, I am sitting in a highchair and my mother offers me a sippy cup of “skin” milk. …