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From Survivor to Thriver
Read more: From Survivor to ThriverCancer. A subject that most avoid like the plague unless it’s deeply personal and imminent. Karl and I have been knocking on wood for a decade now. Gracias a dios. He survived three rounds, and I survived one, all of which spanned almost fifteen years of emotional and physical purgatory. We were lucky enough to…
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A Paean to Patriarchy
Read more: A Paean to PatriarchyOnce upon a time, way back in the ‘50’s, there was a young, impressionable little girl who adored her father more than life itself. She was angelic in appearance, with golden curls and big blue eyes, and had a docile, obedient demeanor. Many of her parents’ friends often remarked about her resemblance to Shirley Temple,…
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Scrumble in the Jungle
Read more: Scrumble in the JungleScrumble: that’s a scrum on top of a rumble. Which can be vicious, given the players and the location. There I was—diligently laboring over the absolutely perfect wording to enrapture a potential agent in a query letter—when all hell broke loose. Literally. Alone in my studio, and on property, it was up to me to…
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Backstories
Read more: BackstoriesI learned an important lesson at a writer’s conference recently while consulting with a publisher’s editor. She looked at me with incredulous eyes and asked me why she should care about a rich woman whose husband stole half a million dollars from her. And here was the kicker: she couldn’t relate because she, the editor,…
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Mayday, Mayday, Mayday
Read more: Mayday, Mayday, MaydayMay Day, typically observed on May 1, is perhaps best known as a European festival with ancient origins that celebrates the beginning of summer. I was first introduced to these rites of summer at the private girls’ school I attended from sixth to twelfth grade, where our headmistress was admittedly a bit of an Anglophile. Much…
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Semana Santa
Read more: Semana SantaGrowing up in the Midwest, Easter Sunday was a one-day celebration full of hidden Easter baskets, chocolate bunnies and colored eggs made the day before. In the “good” ole days, we dipped hard-boiled eggs into water and vinegar that was splashed with a few drops of food coloring, then scooped the eggs out with one…
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Keep Hope Alive
Read more: Keep Hope AliveWatching the memorial for Jesse Jackson yesterday inspired me to remember—and heed—his rousing words: KEEP HOPE ALIVE! When our country went to war with Iran a week ago, hope seemed like a light about to be extinguished, caught between battling factions mirroring their respective intolerances. This cannot end well. After spending my entire adult life…
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Hyperempathy
Read more: HyperempathyYes, it really is a thing—a syndrome—and I am afflicted. In clinical terms, it’s a state of experiencing others’ emotions with such extreme intensity that it causes personal distress and blurs boundaries between self and others. K is well aware of my condition, and commiserates with me often. It’s an affliction that manifests with anxiety,…
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Pickled, Gessoed & Socialized
Read more: Pickled, Gessoed & SocializedThere have been many times in my adult life when I have set intentions—sometimes even creating visually elaborate intention boards—to attract the energies I need to intiate positive productivity. Not always successful to the naked eye, to be sure. But this year is turning out to be a banner year for generating immediate gratification, both…
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Aesop’s Foolish Farmer
Read more: Aesop’s Foolish FarmerAs the calendar flips to a new year, I find myself desperately clinging to the many positive intentions I’d set for myself as they get sucked, one by one, into a vortex of volatility. I thought I was doing pretty well this holiday season, for a change. All the ghosts of Christmases past weren’t exactly…
Judy Richter
Author and Blogger
Judy Richter 