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Is freedom of the press at risk?
“Free speech is not speech you agree with, uttered by someone you admire. It’s speech that you might find stupid, selfish, dangerous, uninformed or threatening, spoken and sponsored by someone you despise, fear or ridicule. Free speech can be unpopular, contentious and sometimes ugly. It reflects a tolerance for differences. If everyone agreed on all things, we wouldn’t need it.” – Robert J. Samuelson, The Washington Post, 2014 As an American journalist, I cherish freedom of speech. I feel fortunate to live in a country in which we all have the right to express our opinions and beliefs on highway billboards and lawn signs as well as in newspapers, blogs, books, magazines,…
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What will you be for Halloween?
“I knew who I was this morning, but I’ve changed my mind a few times since then.” ~Lewis Carroll, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland Even before October rolls around, some of us are already plotting our Halloween costumes. Some therapists suggest that the masks or costumes you choose — no matter how old you are — might offer clues to your personality, goals, and dreams. They’re also a wonderful way to express your creativity. To read a short newspaper essay I wrote on this topic, please click here.
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October memories
“So I like best of all autumn, because its leaves are a little yellow, its tone mellower, its colours richer, and it is tinged a little with sorrow and a premonition of death. Its golden richness speaks not of the innocence of spring, nor of the power of summer, but of the mellowness and kindly wisdom of approaching age.” – Lin Yutang The following short essay began as a journal entry after my father died. Later, it was published in the October 1998 issue of Mary Engelbreit’s Home Companion. It’s also included in my essay collection, Writing Home. Lately I’ve been thinking of these lines from Anne Mary Lawler’s poem…
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Funny Friday: fashion advice
“Clothes make the man. Naked people have little or no influence in society.” ~Mark Twain
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Following your inner compass: “The Journey”
“And there was a new voice which you slowly recognized as your own.” — Mary Oliver The greatest gift of maturing is finding your own power and discovering who you are meant to be — not what others think you should be or want you to be. But the road to authenticity isn’t without obstacles. Mary Oliver’s “The Journey” gives us a new map. It’s one of my all-time favorite poems and has become a personal anthem. A great poem reminds us that the personal is universal, and this one brings shivers of recognition each time I read it aloud in my writing workshops. –CL THE JOURNEYBy Mary Oliver One…
