For my senior thesis at St John’s, I wrote on Ophelia. There was a big party at the President’s house when we all turned in our papers. I wore a too-big bronze sequined dress. He came up to Jill and me and, with the pretense of hugging her because she was his friend, hugged usContinue reading “Ophelia, or What I Wish Hadn’t Happened”
Author Archives: almabhere
For a Moment
A million years ago, I was in an airplane with my seventh and eighth grade classmates, flying back to California from Italy. We were unbelievably lucky private school children who had just spent a week in one of the oldest cities of Western Civilization doing what eighth graders do–having fun but missing the full gravityContinue reading “For a Moment”
Friends
I have an elderly friend who is a little difficult. I have struggled with her for the last two years in particular. She has cared for me at really dark periods and been here, a fixture in Santa Fe, for me. She can also be blunt, judgmental and plain rude. As a mother figure, IContinue reading “Friends”
Stream of Consciousness 2/8/2021
I’ve deactivated my Facebook because it takes too much of my attention and in general adds a level of drama to my life that I don’t need. In a nutshell, I am addicted. It is an issue. In general the internet takes too much of my time, especially during this pandemic. I need to findContinue reading “Stream of Consciousness 2/8/2021”
Things, 1/23/21
Have you ever tried saying something like “May it be blessed” when you do something or have anxiety around something that happens? The tags on my car are out of date because this year has been a nightmare and today I was driving and cop car drove by and I was overcome with anxiety. IContinue reading “Things, 1/23/21”
The Truths of the Heart
“It isn’t possible to love and part. You will wish that it was. You can transmute love, ignore it, muddle it, but you can never pull it out of you. I know by experience that the poets are right: love is eternal.”― E.M. Forster, A Room with a View Yesterday, I got an astrology reading from anContinue reading “The Truths of the Heart”
Softness in a Culture of Punishment
My favorite voice in Buddhism is a lesser known Zen “guide” named Cheri Huber. I discovered her ten years ago while staying at a monastery in Central California, between my sophomore and junior years of college. The monastery doubled as a resort in the summer and while I was there I was assigned to theContinue reading “Softness in a Culture of Punishment”
Resentments
Have you ever cried and cried and cried over something until one day you look up and realize you’re not angry or hurt anymore? I may be speaking too soon, but I have lost my resentments toward a certain person in my past, and I don’t why. They have been the star of every painfulContinue reading “Resentments”
Reason for Being
Because my existential hubris is so enormous, I am going to tell you why I think we are here: we are here to identify with the suffering. Buddha will tell you that “life is suffering,” or “there is suffering” (they sound different to me, but both imply a very human denial of the existence ofContinue reading “Reason for Being”
Vilifying the Other Side Will Not Solve Our Problems: A Post About Peace
Most of us have been through a hell of a lot. We are pretty clear who did it and what was done to us. We know what we do and don’t like. We know who we’re mad at and why. And we can all agree we hate Nazis, for instance. It is my opinion thatContinue reading “Vilifying the Other Side Will Not Solve Our Problems: A Post About Peace”
