Dec 1, 2020Member-onlyDiscovering My Voice with PsilocybinReflection one year after a psychedelic women’s retreat — Many of you who know me might be shocked to know that the women’s retreat I went to last year was a psilocybin (aka “magic mushrooms”) retreat, so this is a “coming out” of sorts. I had been meaning to write about my experience at this Dia de Muertos (Day…Psychedelics13 min readPsychedelics13 min read
Nov 1, 2020Member-onlyI Don’t Know Why You Still Love HimA Protest Song for the 2020 Election — Story Behind the Song I have a friend who was writing lyrics to old songs as a way to vent her anxiety about our current political situation. She shared the lyrics on Facebook a while back — maybe 2 months ago. That inspired me to write this one. I had written this song in…Songwriting3 min readSongwriting3 min read
Oct 4, 2020Member-onlyThe A Word: It’s Not About Abortion, It’s About Abstinence (that is, sex)How can you be both against abortion AND birth control? — Do you wonder why Christians you think are reasonable can STILL support Trump, even if they know he’s immoral and incompetent? It’s because they think they’re saving babies. He doesn’t need to be eloquent or even have policy plans. All he has to do is say certain magic words, like…Abortion7 min readAbortion7 min read
Sep 19, 2020Member-onlyA Protest Song and the Story Behind ItWhy do you have to be that way? — Why do you have to be that way? The one who lies to self-protect To ones who are less fortunate You’ve got no heart no human respect Why do you have to be that way? So mean and proudly arrogant To those who see things a dif’frent way You…Protest5 min readProtest5 min read
Sep 1, 2020Member-onlyImmigrants SupportingWhite SupremacyWhat Guides Their Moral Compass? Today, I wanted to write about immigration, to tell my immigration story and make a case for those of us with immigration heritage to take a stand against Trump’s anti-immigration policies. But, as I write this, I have seared into my brain the image of the mother of the 17-year-old…Immigration13 min readImmigration13 min read
Aug 18, 2020Member-onlyHyperbole Alert: This is Life or Death!How a Funeral Mindset Can Drive Activism — I thought this was going to be a relatively light piece, about how funerals make you reflective and we are being denied that in these pandemic times. Even so, there is a sense of an overall funeral-like mood these days. Everything is stark — life and death, good and evil…2020 Presidential Race7 min read2020 Presidential Race7 min read
Aug 5, 2020Member-onlyUnmasking Anti-MaskismUnderstanding and hope via a playwright’s character study — My first impulse in the beginning of pandemic life was that mask-wearing was silly, that if you are compelled to wear a mask, you think of yourself as sick, so you should stay home. I have a niece in Vietnam who wrote about her experience there and that mask-wearing was…Coronavirus8 min readCoronavirus8 min read
Jul 14, 2020Member-onlyYou Don’t Know You’re Being RacistAnd I’m trying to understand you — A Game of Categories I have this thing that I do just for fun. I divide people into camps based on an observable everyday variable. It’s not meant to be serious. Cilantro or not? Sweet tooth or savory palate? My favorite one is whether you park into a spot backwards or forwards. I make…Racism9 min readRacism9 min read
Jun 30, 2020Member-onlyLet’s Apply Some Thinking Skills to a Mega-list of Trump AccomplishmentsThe Challenge I have a very nice Republican friend, very sweet, very non-confrontational, and very supportive of Trump. Recently my posts on social media have been all about Black Lives Matter. There’s nothing specifically anti-Trump. Hmm. Did I post about that Bible-holding protester-clearing photo op? …Politics13 min readPolitics13 min read
Jun 14, 2020Member-onlyTo Teachers Who Just Can’t Bring Themselves to Take a StandPlease tell me why — It distresses me to see teacher friends not supporting Black Lives Matter. They post memes on social media such as #AllLivesMatter, whose contribution to the discussion is to remind us of the police who have lost their lives in the line of duty, or who focus on the rioting and…Teaching8 min readTeaching8 min read
