CDC Reports Suicide Is Increasing
for Middle-Aged Women
Suicide rates among U.S. women has climbed steadily over the past decade and has peaked among women age 45 to 64.
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Poetry Sunday: “La Perla,” by Doreen Stock
What is happening to Salvadoran refugees in this country today are the threads that weave the rich, tragic tapestry of today’s poem.
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The Power of Positive Words
We can try to overcome the fact that so many of us are feeling down and divided and work up some good old "sisu" to get us through this.
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‘Love, Gilda’ Remembers SNL’s Original Funny Girl
'Love, Gilda' is finely crafted, interesting, and entertaining. It's well worth seeing, but will leave you wanting more.
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What to Expect for the Influenza Season
An annual seasonal flu vaccine is the best way to reduce the chances that you will get seasonal flu and spread it to others. When more people get vaccinated, less flu can spread through that community.
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“A Day of Peace,” “Freud Before Bed,” and “Distortion Formulas,” by Kathleen Winter
I find today’s poems marvelously lyrical and experiential—phrases like “sweet deviant chant,” “less the nuance,” and “suave hours” give sharp delight in their sound and sense.
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Feeling Lit from Within: The Power of Self-Love
If you don’t have a well-internalized sense of self-worth it is like lacking a steady pilot light—you always need to be lit by something external or someone else.
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Murphy Brown is Back with Trump
in its Crosshairs
I'm glad that "Murphy Brown" is back. When the first episode ended, I felt like I sometimes do when getting together with old friends after a long absence. Things are different; but the times you shared are still cherished.
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Osteoporosis Prevention
The greatest bone loss occurs is in the first 5 years after menopause. This is what every woman in her 40s should do to optimize lifelong bone health.
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Poetry Sunday: “In the Walnut Grove,”
“Pow Wow June,” and “View,” by Kim Shuck
Kim Shuck’s relationship to the reader seems essential to this voice, even more than her relationship to language. It’s as if she’s speaking directly into our ears, sitting next to us on a bench and resuming an intense conversation we’ve been having on and off for years.
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Learn to Tune in to Your Own Signals
Learning to respect and appreciate yourself in an appropriate, measured, and compassionate way is an essential foundation of our ability to give to others.
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In Pieces — Sally Field’s Long Road
to Becoming Whole
"In Pieces" is eloquent, entertaining, and courageous. Although there are plenty of show business anecdotes, some tender and some quite funny, the real story is about a woman who had to rebuild herself after surviving a terribly damaging childhood.
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Early Menopause and Depressive Mood Disorder
Women who experience menopause at a young age, as studies show, seem to be at a slightly increased risk of developing depression.
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Poetry Sunday: “A Woman Walks into a Bar,”
by Sian Killingsworth
One strength of today’s poem, though, is that it works even for readers not familiar with that infamous case involving a Stanford swimmer convicted of sexually assaulting an unconscious young woman behind a dumpster. Even before #metoo, sexual assaults like this are common enough, unfortunately, that readers will get the gist.
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When the Past Interferes with the Present
We fear old, buried feelings and fear their power. In this way, they are vampire-like in that the best way to defeat them is to expose them to the light.
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Kusama: Infinity — A Tale of Perseverance
(and Polka Dots)
Yayoi Kusama waited most of her life for the recognition, fame, and fortune that she sought when she first came to New York in 1958. Today, at age 89, she is the top-selling female artist in the world.
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Menopause is Never Old News
A frank discussion about making the right choices in the menopausal transition and the belief that management of symptoms is certainly possible are great life lessons that mothers can give their daughters.
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Poetry Sunday: “Goodbye, New York,”
by Deborah Garrison
This quotations expresses what I love about “Goodbye, New York” and Garrison’s other poems that use everyday language to make art.
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Two New Explosive Books Go Inside the Opioid Crisis
Harsh as the portraits presented by these two books are, they leave us with a much deeper understanding of the ills that are sickening our nation.
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PBS Brings Books to Life in September
As so many programs demonstrate, PBS has always had success in adapting literature for television.
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Lichen Planus and Menopause:
Diagnostic and Treatment Differences
I am writing because I feel that my symptoms were never taken seriously by my primary care health care provider. Because I was in “menopause,” I think my symptoms were attributed to hormonal change and not evaluated properly.
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Poetry Sunday: “Good Bones,” by Maggie Smith
This brief lyric poem captures a moment familiar to most parents experiencing dismay at the state of the world and the need to grapple with that in the context of having children they want to protect.
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Aging Can Teach Us To Leave Negativity Behind
As we age we are more likely to recognize the signs of a lost cause and move on.
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Glenn Close is Riveting (and Oscar-Worthy)
as ‘The Wife’
"The Wife" insists that the old saying "Behind every great man there's a great woman" ignores a more disturbing variation of the story. In this case, it would be more apt to say, "Behind every great man there's a far greater woman who has given up who she was and what she did to ensure his greatness."
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