Posted by Edith Cook on Monday, January 2, 2012,
In :
Personal
I usually gain weight when I spend a holiday with family--and it's not just because. during the holidays, everyone eats too much and drinks too much. I turn to chocolate as my "comfort food," and so, I'm glad to return to my own routine of "normal" life with its exercise groups and swimming. Of course, the fact that I need to comfort myself with chocolate when visiting family is in itself revealing.
The other day my daughter-in-law turned on the music channel in her TV to a very loud degree. ... Continue reading ...
Posted by Edith Cook on Sunday, November 27, 2011,
In :
Personal
A family member emails that my writing is "crap" and that she will refuse to read my WTE feeds from now on. Since all along she has had the option of deleting my stuff unread, I stop to wonder over the urge to insult me. Name-calling is really a short-cut version of blaming. The speaker refuses to look at her own thoughts, feelings, and motivations and focuses instead on the "faults" of the other.
Relationships are a lot of work. We have to get ourselves to overcome--to forgive--not onl...
Posted by Edith Cook on Monday, June 27, 2011,
In :
Reading Life
When you’ve been touched by someone’s compassion or kindness, the experience stays with you, a soothing reminder in times of trouble. Experiencing empathy is especially important in childhood: we have yet to learn to reach out and thus depend on other people’s goodwill.
From my own childhood, two such people stand out in my memory. One was a teacher who never reprimanded me for arriving late—he seemed to sense that my home life was chaotic and that it was a feat just to get to sc...
Posted by Edith Cook on Wednesday, May 11, 2011,
In :
Reading Life
The picture above, circa
1960, shows a youthful group of German mandolinists and guitarists. (I am
playing mandolin.) The group, previously all-male, had agreed to admit women
into their circle. Three of us passed muster.
Malcolm Gladwell’s “Listening with Your Eyes,” his concluding essay in Blink, documents the struggle for fairness in symphony orchestras. Not long ago, he writes, the world of classical music was the exclusive preserve of white males. Musicians’ ranks ... Continue reading ...
Though I now live in Wyoming, I make frequent return trips to California with visits to travel club members along the way. At home I play classical guitar, enjoy gardening and cooking, and participate in group yoga. Getting together with family and friends is high on my agenda. I value people who write or make music and love it when my adult children and their offspring play their instruments, sing songs with me, or discuss what they read and write. Such gatherings help me cope with the losses in my life, which have been severe. Next year I hope to visit family in Germany.
I usually gain weight when I spend a holiday with family--and it's not just because. during the holidays, everyone eats too much and drinks too much. I turn to chocolate as my "comfort food," and so, I'm glad to return to my own routine of "normal" life with its exercise groups and swimming. Of course, the fact that I need to comfort myself with chocolate when visiting family is in itself revealing.
Though I now live in Wyoming, I make frequent return trips to California with visits to travel club members along the way. At home I play classical guitar, enjoy gardening and cooking, and participate in group yoga. Getting together with family and friends is high on my agenda. I value people who write or make music and love it when my adult children and their offspring play their instruments, sing songs with me, or discuss what they read and write. Such gatherings help me cope with the losses in my life, which have been severe. Next year I hope to visit family in Germany.
