"We all want to have the ability to comfort people, to help people, to support people."
Writing Notes from the Heart: An Interview with Elizabeth Cottrell
Category: Writing
In Honor of Nat’l Grief Awareness Day (an announcement)
My book, An Obesity of Grief: A Memoir, will be published in June 2023!
Grief Talk
I'm dedicating Tuesdays to all things grief, including book reviews, links to recommended readings and podcasts, guest posts, and other grief-related topics.
Writer’s Block
I laughed at the memory and wanted to share it with Dad, but then I remembered that Dad is gone and so I didn't feel like writing about chairs anymore.
Two Scenes, A Dozen Stories
Pumping gas at the Get Go last week, I noticed that near - not in - the garbage bin was an empty can of Chunky soup and its pull-off lid, a used-up Right Guard roll-on deodorant stick, an empty can of Pringles (the regular kind), and a can of Lysol. I imagined the items were … Continue reading Two Scenes, A Dozen Stories
Another Phone, Another Jeep
Last week I made two major-ish purchases. Major for me, anyway, and not necessarily because I wanted to, yet “needed to” stretches it a bit. Let’s just say I’ve done my part for the 2020 economy. (You’re welcome.) Purchase #1 Buying a new cell phone is up there with buying a new car (see Purchase … Continue reading Another Phone, Another Jeep
For Barbara…
It’s never easy to hear that someone you care about has died, especially if you’ve kept that person alive in your mind for a long time because a good fiction is sometimes better (well, maybe not better, but certainly easier) than the truth. For more than four years I’ve told myself that my friend Barbara … Continue reading For Barbara…
Emotional Transportation
My sister texted me last night to say she was on the struggle bus. I wrote back saying I was on the vacant train. I can’t think my way out of a bag this week, and I can’t retain the plot of a movie or TV show without referring to IMDb. To help shake these … Continue reading Emotional Transportation
Reading and Writing in Prison
“When the prison gates slam behind an inmate, he does not lose his human quality; his mind does not become closed to ideas; his intellect does not cease to feed on a free and open interchange of opinions.” Thurgood Marshall, Supreme Court Justice, 1974 I led an eight-week poetry workshop at our county jail a … Continue reading Reading and Writing in Prison
Clinging and Distraction
Have you ever thought about someone you haven’t seen in ages, and then a few days later you see them somewhere, like the grocery store? This morning I listened to (checked Twitter) a dharma talk that I didn’t realize would address an issue I’ve been dealing with the last several days. (Checked email. Googled “dharma … Continue reading Clinging and Distraction
Lynn Haraldson 