For me, the real joy of travel is less seeing marvelous sights, although I like that a lot, but rather spending time—sharing bits of my life and doing normal, everyday activities—with those whom I’ve chosen to inhabit my world…
Tag: selfcare
Sisters
I have very few regrets. Undoubtedly the biggest one is the lack of a meaningful adult relationship with my only sibling. I keep a photo of us on my piano, a reminder of a time full of promise for the future, one where I see my love for her evident in the way she’s nestled in my protective arms. Big sisters remain big sisters.
Hainewalde
Hainewalde (‘grove forest’ in German) is a picturesque farming village nestled in the foothills of the Zittau Mountains near the Polish-Czech border with Germany…
Trocadéro Man
Trocadéro Man smelled like springtime and fresh laundry, spoke English, German, Spanish, Chinese, and Russian, was easy to talk to…
Father’s Day
He called me Macushla, after the 1912 song undoubtedly sung to him as a child by his Irish mother…
Oh My, Omai!
One of my favorite portraits is Sir Joshua Reynolds’s portrait of Omai, a Tahitian man in his early twenties. Omai had already led an adventurous life before he met Captain James Cook in 1769 and joined his third voyage, which took him to London in October 1774. Although presented as what John Dryden in his… Continue reading Oh My, Omai!
Road Trip
Do you ever, suddenly, get the compelling urge for a road trip? I apparently do…
Educating Whitie
Long ago, I realized that some of my most memorable experiences were those resulting from my choice to do something alone despite hesitating when I couldn’t find someone to join me. Now, I rarely hesitate. One such event occurred two decades ago when I was temporarily immersed in, really, embraced by, Black American culture…
Teamwork
Gibran observed: “And if you cannot work with love but only with distaste, it is better that you should leave your work and sit at the gate of the temple and take alms from those who work with joy.” These are the words I remembered during the past few days when I was out-of-town at the home of an avid art collector preparing an exhibition for Fall 2024…
#sadgirl
Do #sadgirl selfies evidence evidence a degree of agency unavailable to affluent 19th-century women, often portrayed as beautifully wan and fragile? Or, do they reinforce Schopenhauerian ideas about feminine psycho-emotional fragility?