Some Dead Guy’s Formula For Self-Esteem

Chemists like equations. Chemist that I am, I’m going to give you an equation I learned very late in life. Listen up, because this one affects every aspect of your life. Self-esteem= Success/pretensions William James, the father of psychology, came up with this...

Are You Hiding in Your Closet?

So, imagine my surprise when I came across this TedX Talk by Ash Beckman, a lovely woman I met at the Breadloaf Writers’ Conference a few years back.  At the time, she was working on composing this very story. At the time, I didn’t understand her...

Shock and Awe

This week I was asked an interview question that really got me thinking: “Much of your writing is deeply personal and provocative; some of it seems almost intended to shock. Is there a cost for being so forthright?” A lot of us who choose to write memoir or personal...