Questing on Purpose

This morning brought with it the first pair of instigations as part of the 2018 Quest.  This week is about exploring and testing personal purpose. I don't usually like audio content, but this morning, I had the quiet and the space to listen to the interview between Jeffrey Davis, Caroline Miller and Katie Daleabout. Jeffrey …

Sweet Briar Plantation Slavery

I want to say "I can't" imagine these things. But what I really mean is that I don't want to imagine these things. 

The Real Job of a “Familiar”

During the European and American witch hunts, witches were said to have familiars - often cats, bats or toads that would suckle at unnatural teats and confer powers. In Malleus Maleficarum (The Hammer of Witches, sort of a genocidal handbook), the confessions of some witches spoke of familiar spirits as those personal demons that are a …

Disability and Shame

In this post, I'm going to attempt to digest my own experience of shame in terms of disability and the larger context that surrounds it.  Similar to my previous post, a lot of this draws on the essay “Constructing Normalcy: The Bell Curve, the Novel, and the Invention of the Disabled Body in the Nineteenth Century” …

Fathers in the Shadows

Until dads are given their due from the society for actually parenting, the wage gap will persist.

New Spoonie Game = A Whole New Rule Book

Since my diagnosis of psoriatic arthritis three months ago, I'm adjusting to budgeting my energy as a spoonie.  One of the things that I'm doing is negotiating heavily with the over-achiever type-A part of myself to make sure that I don't overdo things. Recently, I realized that I need to put that aspect of my …

There’s a Metaphor in Here Somewhere

This picture is of my back yard about 3 months ago. The English ivy at the fore is invasive. The wisteria vines are ages old and have taken over my yard and trees with great, ropy Tarzan-tempters.  There are so many scraggly vine-covered trees that there is only shade, and only more vines that thrive in …

What Are Your Rights?

Is healthcare a human right? Is it the government's responsibility?

Letting My Body Teach Me

It is really easy to feel sorry for myself right now. I'm still in the middle of the trial-and-error phase of getting a treatment that works for psoriatic arthritis. My joints still hurt, though the pain is mostly managed. I'm exhausted. (I have to take an hour nap after showering, and can sleep 20 out …

What Do You Really Want?

What are you fighting FOR. What are you moving toward? Tell me.