Be Here Now. The title of Baba Ram Dass’s 1971 book became the catch phrase for millions of westerners seeking enlightenment through eastern spiritual practices, including yoga and meditation. But being in the present moment, letting go of the past and future, has always been challenging to me—until now, in the age of COVID-19. Over… [Read More]
Poemunizing: The Theory of Wastebaskets
On Friday the 13th of March, I began self-quarantining at home with my husband, my dog and my cat. Over a month has passed, and we’ve fared remarkably well. I’m amazed at my emotional equanimity, especially since I’m diagnosed bipolar. In part it’s because I’ve rid my life of so many meaningless obligations that didn’t… [Read More]
Real-life soap drama shatters idyllic writing retreat
As promised, here’s what I wrote about Wellspring Retreat House when I visited in August of 2015. After two feet of snow, it looks very different today. I’ll post some of the photos in the next installment. Working on my memoir, SUBDURAL, and the writing’s going well, “Wherever you go, there you are.” That’s the… [Read More]
Hunkering down at Wellspring for a winter writer’s retreat
It’s two o’clock in the afternoon—time for General Hospital if this were Monday and I were at home. But no, it’s Sunday, and I’m at Wellspring Retreat House, staring out the window over my laptop at a bleak vista of leafless trees and ground carpeted by fallen leaves in shades of brown and red. I’m… [Read More]
Banish the Winter Blues–Join my creative writing workshops at the Arts Center of the Capital Region
A blinding snow squall whipped through upstate New York this afternoon, followed by a precipitous drop in temperature. The temperature’s already below zero here at Snyders Lake, and it promises to plunge even further before dawn. I was planning to go to an open mic in Troy tonight, but I couldn’t bear the thought of… [Read More]
Never too late for writing resolutions
Welcome to my first blog post for 2019.* January’s speeding by, and I still haven’t taken down my Christmas tree. It’s pretty droopy, but even so, I hate to see it go. I had vowed to take it down by Martin Luther King day, but that’s tomorrow, much too soon. Here in Wynantskill in upstate… [Read More]