How Do You Identify?

Recently, I heard a new author speak about his book. He casually mentioned he was a Black/Latino writer. As he continued his story, I pieced together that his father was Puerto Rican and his mother was black. I asked him afterward if he identified as black or Latino. He said both. He said as a...

Go Beyond Yourself

I was listening to an On Being podcast in which poet David Whyte was recalling a story of a dinner with his writer friend John O’Donohue. He mentioned he was thinking of giving his father money and said the amount, and John said, “Oh David, go beyond yourself. Give twice that much.” David Whyte’s larger...

What If?

What If? My two favorite words. They’ve spawned every creation since the dawn of time. The poet asks “what if?” before he puts his pen to paper; the politician asks “what if?” when she’s proposing a new bill; the humanitarian asks “what if?” when he’s imagining a better world; the scientist asks “what if?” when...

Call Me Artist

My husband was recently asked by his boss to retake the Myers-Briggs test. His result was ISFP, also known as “The Artist.” When he saw the word artist and read the description, it shocked him. He figured he must have done something wrong, so he had me watch as he retook the test. I did,...

Under Pressure

What are the rest of the words to that song?  Oh, never mind.  Those are the only two words that matter, and they seem to be popping into my head more often these days. Is it just me, or are we all feeling increased pressure? If I read one more article, for example, that tells...

The Happiness of Art

There are two lines in the book The Artist’s Way that read, “A productive artist is quite often a happy person. This can be very threatening as a self-concept to those who are used to getting their needs met by being unhappy.” Yet we, as a society, continue to hold on to the concept that...