This is a story about why you love music and why, when that song is playing, the world continues to seem slightly magical.
Our national conversation about gender identity is one big miscommunication
I had a friend in junior high whose father and uncle decided they’d had enough of his long hair (beautiful, silken, golden wheat-colored, cascading well below his shoulders). They trapped him in the bathroom one Sunday night, held him against […]
At Play in the Land of Identity
It would also be incredibly helpful for all of us to stop worrying so much about how we think other people see us.
A Brief Scene from “Old Music for New People:” how to hold a knife
“First of all, you need to relax,” Mom said. She put her hand on Rita’s wrist. “Calm down. Never hold a paring knife like you want to kill someone. It’s not a weapon. It’s an instrument. You need to learn that. Maybe someday you’ll want to become a surgeon.”
The Psychology of Sound
I’ve spent my entire life astounded by the magic of music, appreciating everything from opera and Gregorian chant to bluegrass and every kind of jazz there is. But what exactly is being touched in us and inspired when we listen […]
The Rest of the Hemingway Effect
Creative cognition — the imagination — is a wondrously incomprehensible thing.
Top 3 Worthwhile Books on Writing
My hat is off to Martha Nichols for offering up the first true guide for anyone who understands the significance of being a writer in the 21st century.
The Opposite of Zen?
What if you’re an artist, particularly a poet or someone who writes fiction? Perhaps some of us aren’t meant to be ready.
Private Utopias and the Future of Everyone
A version of this essay was published in the Illumination publication on Medium several weeks ago. These days, I wish as hard as I can for good things that are considered impossible to happen, like there actually being a Santa […]
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