Snow White and the Corporate Economy

An Into the Wilderness blog: Story 54 Surviving Facts blog The nights are already turning crisp in New Jersey. Last night, as I sat on my sister’s back porch watching the waning full moon, I grabbed blankets to wrap tightly around my shoulders and legs. I have just moved to my sister’s house while ourContinueContinue reading “Snow White and the Corporate Economy”

Packing

Into the Wilderness: Story 53 Packing tip: use crates rather than boxes and label each one! No, I’m not talking about packing heat. I’m talking about packing up everything you have gathered over sixty years of life and putting it all in storage for at least a year. We’re moving. Or perhaps I should sayContinueContinue reading “Packing”

A Moment to Love

An Into the Wilderness blog I don’t usually use Walk the Moon to celebrate life milestones. But today, I am. Today, my husband and I have been married for 11 years. Second marriages for both of us, we have forged a bond of love and authenticity that comes only through experiencing- and recovering from- life’sContinueContinue reading “A Moment to Love”

Claiming Space

Into the Wilderness: Story 51 My husband and I have worked hard to forge a relationship based on equality, respect and compassion. My husband is almost 70, so when I say we worked hard, I am referring to working through the embedded unconscious bias men his age have. To be clear, he has always beenContinueContinue reading “Claiming Space”

Butterfly

Into the wilderness: Story 50 Imagine the life of a butterfly. First, the egg clinging to the underside of a leaf, miniscule yet tough. Its chorionic shell hides a waxy center with enough joules to form life. Inside, a yolk both produces its new self and serves itself as food for the larva to consumeContinueContinue reading “Butterfly”

Heavy Memories

Into the Wilderness: Story 49 When you’re obese, you will always have a fat mind. Notice I said “mind.” Even if or after you lose weight, your mind cannot release the heavy tread of damage obesity causes. It’s two fold: society’s continual denigration of fat and one’s layers of fat shame deeply embedded in theContinueContinue reading “Heavy Memories”

Average Joes, Strings Part 3

Into the Wilderness: Story 48 And then there was Joe. I didn’t want to pull this string. I let it dangle until I singed the threads, a definite end. He was smart, kind, gentlemanly, open minded, polite. I don’t remember how I met him, only that he was more enthusiastic about dating me than IContinueContinue reading “Average Joes, Strings Part 3”

Mamma’s daughter

Into the Wilderness: Story 46 June marks two sad milestones for my sister and me. On June 15, 33 years ago, our dear mother passed away. June 29 would have been her 88th birthday. In some years, these dates slip by, the loss a pattern of early summer, as familiar as the still-blossoming trees, theContinueContinue reading “Mamma’s daughter”

Strings, Part 2

Into the wilderness: Story 45 Here’s another string I didn’t pull. It’s a handsome young man, military, muscled, groomed. He sat next to me in Middle English Language and Literature. He broadcasted unfiltered masculinity; he also was an English major. We became friends, often sitting on the grass of the University’s central grounds in frontContinueContinue reading “Strings, Part 2”

Strings

Into the Wilderness: Story 44 At night, I struggle to sleep. I start my routine, washing and scrubbing my face, layering, vitamin C, snail mucin, hylaraunic acids, retin A and serums across my face. This is as much a way of separating day from night as it is an anti-aging regimen. Each elixir layers meContinueContinue reading “Strings”