Renouncing the New Decadence
Last night A and I hung out with our good friends who have a 2nd home across the street, which they usually rent out. When they are not here, they live in the West Village, where they own a well-known…
Writing From the Middle of a Conversation You Didn’t Know We Were Having
I recently returned from a family trip to Italy. We visited Assisi, home of Saint Francis and his sidekick, Chiara, otherwise known as Clare, founder of the order of Poor Clares. She was the first woman to to write a…
Aw, Shucks
It’s here! The book, The Cassoulet Saved Our Marriage, is now available in stores near you. In it, you can read my essay about how my dad, who annoyed the hell out of me, taught me how to cook, how…
Yikes: My Two-Cents on the The Zen Sex Scandals, published by the Weeklings
Some Personal Reflections on the Most Recent Zen Teacher Sex Scandal Bethany Saltman Thursday, March 21, 2013 IT WAS SPRING. I remember that. It might have even been Easter Sunday, the day after our brunch, when Dena called me….
An Enlarged Heart? Maybe. Maybe Not.
Yesterday I picked up a new book from Molly, my favorite local librarian. Every time I stumble across something that appeals, I go my account on the Phoenicia Library page and order it up. Then Molly calls me when it’s…
Now, This is Weird
Another snow day. Deadlines. Online teaching. Smurfs. Chili. My new favorite Rooibus cinnamon tea. Tennis cancelled. And the weird part is….? I confess, there’s not much to report. (Getting warmer.) I have been working on a piece about my relationship…
The Road that Leads to Personhood
So. Here is my question: What do I do with my personhood? Like, my subjective, emotional, hot-heart-self? The feelings that “come up” when something happens. Anything. Rejection. Fear. Anger. Irritation. The self that arises from within a flow. Interesting to…
Me and Joko: Really?
I am doing an experiment this week: no criticizing. Why? Because I noticed that my beloved 7 year old was busting her friends’ balls, gosh, the way I bust on hers and her dads’! Oops. So I figured since it…
Hair-Brained
My mom’s killer, low, pull-back hairdo from the 60’s has always inspired me to keep my hair long, even though I could not, would not do the work required of such piece of artistry. Even so, I always felt comforted,…
Happy (so to speak) New Year
One day I came home from kindergarten and Happy was gone. I can’t remember what my parents said, but it was something about how it wasn’t working out. Happy, the Beagle pup, wasn’t taking to the housebreaking idea, and barked…
