Rolling Stone wanted to know why a certain song Dylan wrote was covered by everyone. I knew my answer without reading their explanation. It was the only authentic witness I'd ever given, until I wrote my book. If you know what a witness is, hey. If not, welcome. It's your redemption story, followed by a…Read more Signs
J
“he never says anything off the top of his head”
― Alice Walker, The Color Purple
Locus of Control
Trust the ultimate trust fund-Colossians 3:23 My body's a twisted wreck. I couldn't stop the urge to cry when she jabbed her thumb into the protruding discs in my neck. It was the muscle spasms that finally forced my tingling fingers to hit call and make the appointment. Shoulders don't belong under your ears but…Read more Locus of Control
Parallel Process
You know the part of the story where the main character decides to ride or die? That's the part I wrote about, again, today. We're perpetually faced with decisions in divided roads. My stomach has been unsettled for the past month. Some mix of stress, work, genetics and my foolish, lifelong fork war. The gift…Read more Parallel Process
Sweater Weather
This morning he tells me sons and daughters will prophecy, dream dreams, see visions and nothing happens without action. As for the steps and which direction to take, apparently we're to wait for signs and wonders, act on our free will, screw up, beg for mercy, humbly accept, put on a bunch of armor, do…Read more Sweater Weather
A’wake
The island was up; crowded with familiar strangers preoccupied with tired itineraries. Eat, shop, sleep, repeat. Nothing of substance in their coming or going; autopilots of autonomous kingdoms, oblivious to the winged ship hovering over the harbor like a pilgrim spacecraft. The light in the cove was neither night or day but I registered the…Read more A’wake
Ooh La Lie
Rien ne pèse tant qu'un secret. Nothing weighs more than a secret. - Jean de La Fontaine Listening my way through Tommy Tomlinson’s memoir, The Elephant in the Room; the story of his struggle with food addiction, obesity and a desperate affair with choosing comfort over the effort it takes to live more and exist…Read more Ooh La Lie
Drift
Some places, the far away and familiar, help us remember who we are, despite the world helping us forget. My eyes, skin, hair and soul have craved home for close to a decade; probably longer if you count the existential pangs of birth. Bloody mess. The desert parched more than paper; bleaching ever exposing bone…Read more Drift
100 Seeds
What are we grateful for? Let us count the ways. Dear dishes, sorry, we didn't count you. I used to have my clients spend one group session making a list of 100 things they’re grateful for which at first felt impossible and they probably thought I was a sadist. Have you even been listening to…Read more 100 Seeds
Not Buying It
Healing from complex trauma while moving up the food chain is like running a marathon across a mountain range. No time for souvenir shopping or group sing-alongs. The third and fourth shift are waiting. Hurry up! There's a reason we're tired. Well intended self-help gurus ultimately hurt because they fail to address the blanket of…Read more Not Buying It
Parable of the Rich Man
A rich white man who'd lost all his fortunes, woke up on the psych unit where I worked during the recession. He thought taking his life was the answer to losing what he'd learned had been everything; money, status, caviar. In the weeks that followed his new reality, he joined our partial hospital program for…Read more Parable of the Rich Man
Born in Providence 