by Beth Woolsey -

The Midterms and the Lost Art of Waiting

  TODAY’S GOAL: DO NOT LOSE MY GD MIND ON ELECTION DAY. UNA PROBLEMA: I AM ME. 🙄   ENTER: My friend, Doreen, who’s one of the raddest people I know because… a) She’s FIERY. b) She’s good times. c) She listens to humans like they’re really wise and really wonderful and INHERENTLY WORTH hearing, especially children, so I’d like to elect her President of the Universe, please. STAT.  d) She’s the inventor of My Favorite Shirt of All Time which reads, “only i can prevent narcissism.” 😂 TRUE TRUTH, folks.     And, last but not least…   e) She helps lead the way toward better self-care during these Crazy Times, and I NEED THAT BAD about now. You probably do, too, so Doreen’s agreed to let me share this with you. THANK GOODNESS. And thanks, Doreen.   Waving, friends, always,          

The Midterms and the Lost Art of Waiting: Why Re-Learning How to Wait Can Help Us Stay Sane as We Wait for Results ...  read more

by Beth Woolsey -

No Shame November

I’ve never participated in No Shave November. 

There are people who do. Beard-growers glory in No Shave November, and so do those eager to put away the razor and let the leg locks run wild.

Good for them, I say. Way to TAKE A BREAK from being sheared and shorn and neat and tidy. Way to say ADIEU to expectations. Way to find REST and RESPITE from the Usual, Methodical Things we think we Have to Do. ...  read more

by Beth Woolsey -

5 Ways to Celebrate World Mental Health Day

Hey! Guess what today is? 

RIGHT.

It’s World Mental Health Day.

Here are the 5 Things I’m Doing to Celebrate:

1. Breathing. Not, like, mindfully or anything. I mean, Mindful Breathing is AWESOME. An excellent discipline to practice. Highly recommend. But for today, I’m simply celebrating that breath is entering my body and leaving it, over and over, like living people do, because BREATHING means I’m ALIVE which means I’ve KICKED MENTAL ILLNESS IN THE TEETH. Boom. Breathing. ...  read more

by Beth Woolsey -

Well, That Sucks. Here’s What We Do Now. Also, Pictures of Kittens.

So. Here we are. The voices of millions of victims of sexual assault were ignored, and, although two of the literal qualifications for a United States judge are a) maintaining public confidence and b) having the kind of impeccable integrity not to, say, sidestep direct questions from Congress or minimize one’s past flaws under oath, we’ve got him anyway.  ...  read more

by Beth Woolsey -

I’m Here and I Found Our Patronus

This is me.

CLEARLY I’m not in Oregon right now.

Also, despite appearances to the contrary, I’m not naked, either.

I’m in Mexico, friends! To work on the latest draft of my book proposal, thanks to a friend with a free-to-me condo. 😍 (EVERYONE GO MAKE FRIENDS LIKE THIS. It’s OK. Go ahead. I’ll wait.)

This is me trying to take a picture that shows I’m wearing something other than just flesh. ...  read more

by Beth Woolsey -

For the Women Who Need an Extra Spark of Magic…

On a still fall evening, a woman in a long, loose dress emerged from her house on a tree-lined street. She closed the door softly, walked down the porch stairs, and crossed the street to the mailbox. 

There was nothing remarkable about her, and nothing remarkable about the street full of boxes or the murmuring people living their simple, complex lives inside them. The streetlights flickered, a descant to the melody of TV screens glimmering behind shaded windows.  ...  read more

by Beth Woolsey -

We Are Here. We Are Here. We Are Here.

I walked today, going nowhere, and I listened to my heart beat as my feet shuffled on concrete. 

I breathed consciously.

Air in. Air out. 

Air in. Air out.

I felt heavy, but calm. Like the weighted blanket of our collective grief — the grief of women who know what it is to speak out and be derided and dismissed — anchored me to the earth. 

I read.  ...  read more