Lydia Schoch

Here is this week’s list of blog posts, quotes and other tidbits from my favourite corners of the web.

Prayers. These Buddhists accept online prayer requests that are then read aloud once a day by volunteers. I’m sharing a link to it because the idea of anonymous, electronic prayer requests reminds me of a scene in Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale where the narrator describes something similar in great detail. Does anyone remember that scene?

A Cream Cracker Under the Settee. One of the most memorable monologues I’ve ever read. I wonder how often the disturbing events alluded to in this story actually took place in previous generations?

50 Things Money Can’t Buy via OliviaMagdelene. To this list I would add:

• A robust imagination.
• Forgiveness.
• The euphoria of meeting kindred spirits.
• Happy lucid dreams.

What Your Favourite Ice Cream Says About You. When I have a bad cold or the flu and hate the thought of eating or drinking soy mint chocolate chip ice cream is my ultimate food bribe. Only 50% of what this site says about my choice is true but it has given me an ice cream craving!

A Legends Position on Banning Assault Rifles. One of the best ways to explain your position on a controversial subject is to tell a story.

From New Age Bullies:

During my 36 years as a psychotherapist, I’ve seen many clients who have been victims of people like those Hannah and my friend describe. I call them New Age Bullies — those who, sometimes with the best intentions, repeat spiritual movement shibboleths, with little understanding of how hurtful their advice can be.

Imagine you’re a black Korean war veteran returning Home to Georgia. After fighting for your country you come back to a society that has institutionalized discrimination against you. In the 90 years since the Civil War ended precious little has changed. Normally I wish Toni Morrison’s books were shorter. This time I didn’t want to stop listening to Frank’s stories. He’s the kind of literary character that feels more real to me than some of the flesh and blood people I know!

What have you been reading?

Here is this week’s list of blog posts, videos, quotes and other tidbits from my favourite corners of the web.

We do not grow absolutely, chronologically. We grow sometimes in one dimension, and not in another; unevenly. We grow partially. We are relative. We are mature in one realm, childish in another. The past, present, and future mingle and pull us backward, forward, or fix us in the present. We are made up of layers, cells, constellations.- Anaïs Nin

The Science of Sex Abuse. Trigger warning for rape and childhood sexual abuse. I don’t know if any of my followers are unusually sensitive to that topic…but you have been warned! Everyone agrees that sexual abuse is horrifying. What we don’t always agree on is what the best way is to stop current abusers and prevent tomorrow’s rapists from attacking anyone. The problem is we haven’t figured out the most effective treatment yet.

Nice Try, Sauron. Ok, which one of you did this? 😀

One of My Best Workers. From verbal abuse to gentle compliments, what we say to one another matters.

Father Time is My Peer via StoryRoute. A man visits old classmates in a nursing home and contemplates his future. It was hard to choose just one essay from this site as so many of them stretched my mind.

From How Doctors Die:

It’s not a frequent topic of discussion, but doctors die, too. And they don’t die like the rest of us. What’s unusual about them is not how much treatment they get compared to most Americans, but how little. For all the time they spend fending off the deaths of others, they tend to be fairly serene when faced with death themselves.

Many years ago my aunt gave me a copy of What Katy Did for Christmas. It tells the story of a girl living in the nineteenth century whose spine is injured in a accident. One day she’s healthy and active, the next she’s bedridden and in terrible pain. Given the time period this was written in there is of course some heavy-handed moralizing about being a good example and proper young woman but what I remember loving about the story is how Katy is encouraged to find a kernel of joy in even the most hopeless circumstances.

What have you been reading?

Here is this week’s list of videos, blog posts and other tidbits from my favourite corners of the web.

60 Insane Cloud Formations From Around the World via Ken Kaminesky. Number nineteen is the best.

From Awakening:

At that moment, Campbell realized that something had happened to her during her appendectomy, something that changed her forever. After several years of investigation, she figured it out: she had woken up on the table.

This experience is called “intraoperative recall” or “anesthesia awareness,” and it’s more common than you might think.

Introvert Fairy Tales: Sleeping Beauty. It was hard to pick just one post from this blog. All of the tales are good but Sleeping Beauty is the most imaginative retelling of a classic fairy tale.

Nottaway. In what ways do you stereotype the elderly?  I, for example, have the tendency to assume that my older relatives should be sheltered from certain things. Because they’ve been alive 70, 80, 90 years I think they will never understand my sexual orientation, (lack of) religious beliefs or choice to remain childless. I also assume they have no interest in modern pop culture. In no way am I proud of this…but that doesn’t stop me from hesitating when the conversation flows into “dangerous” territory.

Getting What She Gave. A poem about what happens when the past no longer is an excuse for someone’s present behaviour.

Good advice on toxic people:

The most despicably selfish people are often, upon close inspection, feral — they’re consumed by self-preservation, and don’t have the courage or even the capacity to take the emotional risks that are the hallmark of civilized behavior….This isn’t to say that you should handle the feral without gloves. Sometimes the best thing to do is to have nothing to do with them.

What would you do with your remaining years if all of your friends and family members were dead? Is it better to be alone and safe or in the company of others when there’s a high risk of dying from an airborne AIDS-like illness? Dogs Stars is the best book I’ve read so far in 2013. I only hope I’ll never have to make the same choices faced by the narrator.

What have you been reading?