Dear Nicholas, This week for a couple of days, I felt sudden onslaughts of seemingly unprovoked sadness, like clouds crossing a mostly clear sky, suddenly arriving, gradually departing. By unprovoked, I mean having no obvious immediate trigger. I told husband Bob about this Thursday night and he said, “Death is sad.” Yes, it is. Nobody […] Read More

Hi Nicholas, Remember that time you and I had a conversation about my extreme frustration over my book sales figures? I refused to be consoled that they weren’t higher. Financial questions aside, I’ve thought in recent years that my status anxiety had to a significant degree slipped away. But then last night I dreamed I […] Read More

Dear Nicholas, Almost all of my anxiety is about screwing up, causing harm or committing moral error, rather than flying or public speaking or sinister clowns. But there’s one physical activity that does scare me and yet I keep doing it. It gives me an experience of tolerable levels of fear: a sort of set point […] Read More

Dear Nicholas, I was already in a where-did-I-come-from roots-researching mood and then a few weeks ago, TV station WECT in my hometown of Wilmington, NC, aired a bit of my family history that I’m very proud of. A Startling Moment The story popped up and surprised my mother, who, a few days short of 96, […] Read More

  Dear Nicholas, I’ve now observed a Sabbath day twice  since my recent resolve, which was inspired by taking part in a  Jewish Shabbat dinner. I’m so happy and surprised by the outcome. The second Sunday was when I felt a startling effect: timelessness. All The Time In The World Or more accurately, for sixteen […] Read More

Nicholas, For decades, I’ve been telling myself I really ought to declare one day a week free of all work–writing, critiquing, housework, taxes, etc. A Sabbath rest. I haven’t been able to get myself to do it until now. What has persuaded me is the lovely Shabbat dinner I had this past Friday with my […] Read More

Dear Nicholas, I’ve stumbled onto a new tactic that’s helping with head-clearing, when I can bring myself to use it. Rather than collecting lengthy to-do lists with items still not crossed off, I’ve adopted a new mantra: Let’s Take Care of It Now. I came to this after a writer client took out his checkbook […] Read More

Dear Nicholas, Doc thinks I have the flu. So I’ve cancelled commitments for the next few days, which is to say I’ve let people down, six of them to be precise. That’s what has bothered me about this, messing with their plans, breaking my commitments,  even though I have been massively assured by each one […] Read More

Dear Nicholas, A commenter on a post of mine about dealing with death, The Age of Others Keeling Over, wrote, “Baby Boomer navel-gazing always astounds me.” I don’t think it’s navel-gazing to react to the increasing number, as one ages, of deaths of friends and family. However, she does have a point. I lead a […] Read More

Dear Nicholas, Roughly a year ago I realized at a dramatic point that I was in the process of making a baffling turn–not by choice and not sure in what direction. Artsy-gorgeous environmental magazine Orion recently introduced me to the term bechira point: “an internal turning point, or ‘a moment of choice between continuing to act […] Read More