A small room in Boston
- At January 17, 2020
- By Lisa
- In Experiences, Features, Wellness, Writing
2
I write from a small room in Boston without a view. There are two west-facing windows which open to the mustard-colored clapboard siding of the neighboring three-story, and at this time, it is an advantageous vantage point. It keeps my attention focused on my writing and my mission.
Several weeks ago, I took to rearranging the furniture in this room to something I felt was more conducive to creativity. Pushing my desk into a corner I made a cozy place for concentration. A great chair, good lighting, and a variety of sacred items that I believe help my process. It’s a comfortable room also containing an old unused fireplace in the corner — it’s interior bricks painted white against a red wall. There are piles of books, journals, candles, and two sleepy cats. I see this arrangement as something I hope will prove beneficial in the full immersion of my craft because an enemy also lurks within these walls.
The War of Art, written by Steven Pressfield, discusses this enemy. It is known as Resistance. Pressfield refers to Resistance using a capital letter and assigns to it some powerful personality traits. It is what he considers the major deterrent of artists being able to do their work. It is a formable enemy — invisible, insidious, impersonal, and infallible. The battle with Resistance is fought on a daily basis.
Read More»The work of artist Rick Garcia
My most recent cover story for Venü Magazine, The Art and Heart of Rick Garcia, Winter issue, 2019-2020.
An internet search of artist, Rick Garcia, will show only the lightest of online footprints revealing his website, a couple of YouTube videos, and his work at C. Parker Gallery in Greenwich Connecticut. Yet Garcia has created for some of today’s most highly visible organizations, corporations, events, and causes.
His work has garnered worldwide attention with images that are sometimes joyous and other times heart-rending. He is prolific. His palette is vibrant, often reflecting his love of the tropics, and with an economy of line he displays great skill in illustration. He has an approachable manner and an easygoing way of expressing himself. In other words, he’s pretty cool.
Rick Garcia has worked three times as the official artist for the GRAMMY Awards, setting the look and feel of the live ceremonies and gracing the covers of the organization’s program covers, CDs, posters, and apparel. In 1998 and 2003 he was commissioned by The United Nations Postal Administration to bring awareness to the dangers facing the rainforest and its inhabitants. The stamps he created earned his series the title of “most beautiful stamp series of 2003”.
Read More»Women, art, and the future
- At October 14, 2019
- By Lisa
- In Art, Current Events, Editorial, Experiences, Features
- 0
I have great business associates — it turns out that most of them are women. On a Tuesday afternoon in October, I had the good fortune to speak with two of them. The conversation was familiar and light. We were coming down from our summer vacation high and now enthused by what we see as an active future. We’re making connections.
There was talk of arts and artists, lovely autumn weather and summer getaways. We spoke about climate change, politics, publishing, and the things women are doing to stop the madness permeating our society. The world needs healing and women have ideas.
Read More»The stories we tell
- At November 20, 2018
- By Lisa
- In Narcissistic Abuse Recovery, Writing
- 2
Finding your new personal narrative.
Human beings have told stories for 40,000 years. Whether by written or spoken word, or pictures painted on cave walls, these are the tales of our experiences, our culture, and history. Story telling has been core to the human experience since forever. But what makes a story true and what deems a story worth being told? And more importantly, what about the stories we tell ourselves … about ourselves?
I’ve written stories for many years now. Whether I’m interviewing an artist, a Yemeni activist and journalist, or ten Swedish superwomen, I’ve always endeavored to capture the authenticity and truth of my subject. The narratives that I’ve told myself—about myself—over the last two years, however, have been usually quite harsh and often untrue. I think this is the case for many of us as we reflect on past mistakes or engage in self-degradating emotions. There is no fact checking for our inner critic. But it is these negative self critiques which we most often use to define who we are.
Read More»Teaching myself to read, again
- At October 21, 2018
- By Lisa
- In Narcissistic Abuse Recovery, Wellness, Writing
- 4
Nearly everyone has had the experience of reading a paragraph or a page in a book, getting to the bottom of it, and then realizing they have no idea what they just read. In 2017, this was happening to me on a regular basis. In fact, it was happening all the time. As a writer, not being able to focus or comprehend reading material was obviously problematic.
This had never been an issue for me in the past. Prior to my experiences in Sweden, I had laser focus. But after my return to the US, I found I could read news articles and the simple short posts people would write on social media, but I couldn’t focus on longform or fiction. My abilities to research and to stay on task were also significantly reduced.
Why the change?
Read More»Summer Issue of Venü Magazine
I’m so excited about this issue of Venü Magazine. Knowing how difficult it is to be in the publishing industry these days, I have to take my hat off to Tracey Thomas and her staff. The amount of work that goes into creating a magazine is certainly a labor of love. Venü issues are not only available online but the beautiful print editions, with their satin sleek covers, are wonderful to hold and read. Many people tell us that they keep past issues as collectables. Additional thanks also goes to Nichole D’Auria for always making my stories (and all the stories in Venü) look so gorgeous with her layouts. And thanks to the editors who make our stories so much more readable and grammatically correct.
For this summer issue of Venü Magazine, my article on the work of artist Betsy Silverman graces the cover. This is the second time I’ve interviewed Silverman and like the first interview, I’m still inspired and impressed with her eye for architectural perfection and attention to detail. Silverman creates highly detailed and vibrant scenes of Boston using only carefully curated and cut pieces of paper. All from recycled magazines. Not a single brush stoke of paint nor a hand drawn line exists in her work.
Read More»Oliver Sacks – Write as if you knew your death date
- At April 01, 2018
- By Lisa
- In Experiences, Writing
- 0
I’ve become obsessed with the writings and lectures of Dr. Oliver Sacks. Not only was the man absolutely delightful – he had a sense of humor that often causes me chuckle through the lines of his essays and books – he was one of our greatest minds and a break-your-heart beautiful writer.
Sacks, a British neurologist and author, had an insatiable curiosity at what his website describes as “the far borderlands of neurological experience”. Through his writings for the general public, Sacks described for us conditions such as Tourette’s syndrome, Parkinsonism, migraines and musical hallucinations, phantom limb syndrome, schizophrenia, and Alzheimer’s disease. He explored what it meant to be a conscious individual and how our brains make us who we are. Dr. Sacks wrote and lectured about these things so we could understand them, infecting his audience with that same sense of awe one might experience when learning something new about the universe.
Read More»Cigarettes and Malice
- At March 25, 2018
- By Lisa
- In Musings, Writing
- 0
It’s been a few weeks since I’ve entered a post here. I’m not going to apologize for this because I believe my readers understand that there are times one needs to regroup and reflect on one’s path. The path is as important to me as the end destination but often the path is arduous and can be all consuming. The end is just the end. It doesn’t require a lot of work.
This isn’t to say that I haven’t been writing privately and I’ve written for a couple of different publications – namely Venü Magazine and Artscope Magazine – which has been deeply satisfying. But before sharing posts here with you, I feel a certain responsibility to be sure of the content I’m writing, the authenticity of my voice, and the validity of what I am sharing. These are self assigned essays, and posts which appear here are often something between the private thoughts I jot in my journal and the offerings I may provide for any editor of public consumption. It’s a tricky terrain.
It is said that a significant part of recovery from trauma includes embracing your thoughts and emotions – to really feel them as opposed to pushing them aside and soldiering on. There is a need to find answers to certain questions but there is also wisdom in being able to sit and accept the questions – many of which may go unanswered. For now. Forever.
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