This post originally appeared in 2007 on my old blog: Real Words for a Real Writer. It’s about my brief but memorable experience as a literacy volunteer. When I was about eighteen, I signed up as a Literacy Volunteer of Tucson. My work with the group didn’t last long (what can I say, I was eighteen and not exactly committed to anything for very long periods of time). However, it left a lasting impression on my life. Although I obviously knew that there were illiterate adults living around me, I hadn’t really understood until working with one what that meant on a daily basis. And I hadn’t understood until that…
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Recommended Essay Reading: The Artist as Culture Producer … and Thoughts on Creative Collaboration
The Artist as Culture Producer: Living and Sustaining a Creative Life is an essay collection edited by Sharon Louden in an effort to combat the stereotype that artists are working in studios alone, toiling away in solitary – even self-absorbed – pursuits. The essays are each by an artist who “reaches outside of the studio to extend creative energies and pursuits into his or her community.” She goes on to say she chose these artists for many reasons including their generosity and that “they inject creative culture into the cracks of society, where they alter the direction of small towns and large cities”. Each of the essays is as different…
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5 Books About Walking to Inspire as You Move through the World
Did you know that there are some great books about walking? Walking is so powerful, yet people often overlook its value. Personally, I walk every day. I went car-free when I moved to San Francisco thirteen years ago. I do take shared transportation a lot these days, but I still walk when I can. Plus I adopted my pup three years ago and she encourages me to get out for walks every day. When I get lazy about walking, there are books about walking to inspire me to get out there again. Here are five books about walking that I’ve read and recommend: 1. Walking in this World by Julia Cameron…
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Book Review: Always Too Much and Never Enough
Jasmin Singer is a vegan, lesbian, animal rights activist and author whose 2016 memoir Always Too Much and Never Enough shares her story of weight gain and loss on the path to understanding the core of her own true identity. She shares raw, intimate details of her life including the journey from actor to activist the complexity of being the much-loved but always-overweight daughter of a thin, beautiful mother a college date rape the death of a beloved grandmother and the many other nuances that make up a woman’s life. This is all set against the backdrop of navigating her relationship with food. Moreover, it’s about dealing with her own body…
