Remembering Mom on her Birthday

My mother, Dena Ricci, would have been 91 years old today!

As my sister Holly Ricci wrote in Mom's obituary, "She (Dee) had an unrivaled talent for creating a warm and loving home that provided a true oasis of comfort for all who entered. For those lucky enough to sit at her dinner table, they enjoyed legendary pot roasts, picture-perfect pies, warm loaves of homemade Italian bread -- all served with kindness, loving hospitality and impeccable style."

She lives on in the hearts and minds of all of her loved ones!

March 30, 1926 - October 17, 2015

Poem for a Foggy Day

forget carl

forget fog creeping in

on little cat feet. Meet instead 

the white vapor swallowing

my head, whole hog.

Wallowing, he devours

ships, the tallest redwoods.

Entire landscapes, coastlines

the size of Maine

drip from his soft gray lips.

Fed, he leers, gluttonous.

This pig can be butchered

but it takes an ax of sun to roast him.

Then he boils off, froth to the sky.

A writing class that draws on meditation and inspirational exercises

WRITE YOUR HEART OUT:

A Workshop to Discover Yourself in Words and Meditation

Lenox Community Center

Lenox, MA

10 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.

First session

Saturday, March 25^th, 2017

$25 per session

Subsequent sessions April 1st, 8th and 15th

Do you dream about becoming a writer? Do you write and then secret it away in a drawer? “Write Your Heart Out” is a workshop that will lead you through a series of meditative and inspirational exercises designed to help you write about your life and things you love. These exercises are very simple – as simple as breathing – and they will help bring to the surface your thoughts, your past experiences, and your feelings, some of which may surprise you. 

We rely on breathing because our end goal is to help you write the same way you breathe – naturally, without thinking about it, letting words and images rise to the surface. Then we just write them down! Simple, right? WRITE!

This workshop is not intended to teach the nuts and bolts of writing but rather to encourage writers to discover their authentic voices, in part by reading their work aloud. Along the way we aim to take the fear out of writing.

So if you want to be creative and relaxed while having fun, then please come join us!

In this workshop you will learn:

How to give yourself permission to write

How to develop your own authentic writing voice

How to use music and art and photos to spark your writing

How to use meditation and visualization to inspire your writing  

How to establish and maintain a writing routine

How to build a supportive writing community

This workshop is offered by Claudia Ricci, Ph.D., a long-time University professor who is also a published fiction and non-fiction writer.  A practitioner of yoga and meditation for many years, she began teaching “Write Your Heart Out” workshops in 2003 and began painting the same year. Her websites are at claudiaricci.com and claudiaricciwritingclasses.com

Contact Claudia Ricci at claudiajricci@gmail.com or (518) 469-7854.

Praise for Write Your Heart Out:

“It was a great course. In addition to being an excellent teacher, Claudia Ricci has a way of getting people to feel comfortable with their writing.  I've been writing, writing, writing and I feel it's very helpful in reducing stress.”

-- Jane 

“I totally loved the workshop!!!! The time went so fast, and the exercises were very meaningful for me. You did such a great job of weaving it all togethker at a great pace. THANK YOU!!!!!!” – Jacqueline

“I took Claudia Ricci’s workshop in January for a “jump start” and it was great.  The attendees were diverse in age and writing experience, but they all seemed to love the class.  Some of the writing exercises took us places we didn’t know we were going until our pens were moving on the paper.  Claudia’s critiques of the writings that people chose to share were very positive and encouraging.  I would highly recommend her classes.” -- Anne

“This was a well-thought out workshop. It was such a treat to have the time to just write. The writing ideas were free enough so that I felt I could just "play" and see what happened.” -- Christine

“Claudia Ricci’s workshop was very enjoyable . It got me to start putting things on paper – that made me powerful enough to express my feelings.”

-- Sarah

“I would like to thank you for this wonderful workshop.  You made us all feel welcomed and stimulated and confident with our writing. I enjoyed your techniques and methods.  The exercises – including the guided imagery -- I found very useful.  It brings out the creative juices!  The breathing exercise was calming and helped get the writing process going. This workshop offered such a wealth of information, encouragement, and teaching tools to help me feel motivated to write.  Participating in this class has helped me to go from thinking to actually writing.  I enjoyed how you made the class personal as well, opening up each of us to witness others. This approach helped me to see we really all have the same human struggles and we just need to be positive and start writing!! Bravo!!”      -- Dalija

Fantastic Flower Show at Smith College

There may still be lots of snow on the ground, and several weeks before bulbs blossom in the garden.

But in a 19th century greenhouse on the Smith college campus in Northampton, MA, a spectacular flower show boasts hundreds and hundreds of tulips, daffodils, hyacinths, orchids and various other spring flowers.

People walk into the show and are stunned, as if they've just stepped into Emerald City along with Dorothy and her three buddies. How do  you take in the dazzling splendor?

One of the volunteers said that she's never seen so many happy people. The crowds were thick and the cameras were everywhere, but people were smiling and extra polite.

The show began March 3rd and ended today, March 19th. Mark your calendar for next year.

Meanwhile, Smith's greenhouse, built in 1895, features towering palms and more exotic plants than you can imagine, all year round. Visitors are welcome, and the volunteer said to bring a book, as there are benches throughout the greenhouse.

What a great place to decompress and ponder the marvels of Mother Nature.

As my husband remarked, "it's like going to Florida or California."

It is, and it only cost $5.

The Nation's Dunesbury Cartoon Dumps on Trump

Check out the Dunesbury cartoon on the cover of The Nation's March 20th special issue, which focuses on "Media in the Trump Era." If you aren't familiar with the magazine, here you go.  According to Wikipedia, 

"The Nation is the oldest continuously published weekly magazine in the United States, and the most widely read weekly journal of liberal/progressive political and cultural news, opinion, and analysis. It was founded on July 6, 1865, as a successor to William Lloyd Garrison's The Liberator,^[2] with the stated mission to "make an earnest effort to bring to the discussion of political and social questions a really critical spirit, and to wage war upon the vices of violence, exaggeration, and misrepresentation by which so much of the political writing of the day is marred." It is published by The Nation Company, L.P., at 33 Irving Place, New York City.^[4] It is associated with The Nation Institute.

The Nation has bureaus in Washington, D.C., London and South Africa, with departments covering architecture, art, corporations, defense, environment, films, legal affairs, music, peace and disarmament, poetry, and the United Nations. Circulation peaked at 187,000 in 2006 but by 2010 had dropped to 145,000 in print, though digital subscriptions had risen to over 15,000."

I include the first and third frames of the cover cartoon. I offer the same advice I usually offer: show your support for progressive (anti-White House) politics and the media in general by subscribing to The Nation. And then buy a subscription for a friend!

On another note, MyStoryLives celebrates its 1000th post this week. Thanks to all those folks who have published here, and to all of the blog's readers as well.

This CNN commentator Would Make a Great President!

This post appeared first in The Huffington Post.

I happened to walk into my husband’s office yesterday.

He was watching a video featuring a speech that CNN commentator Van Jones gave at an African American church (St. Sabina’s) in Chicago last month. It was startling. It was stunning.

I was on my way to take a shower when I stopped and watched the whole speech. I was transfixed by Jones’ extraordinary presence, his passion and his brilliance. He is also very handsome and that helps.

And yes, he reminded me of Obama!

As a CNN commentator, he always appears with a stage full of others. His remarks have impressed me, but it wasn’t until today that I was totally wowed by his integrity, his command of the political situation in this torn-up country, and his endless eloquence.

Jones was introduced by fellow CNN commentator David Axelrod, who helped engineer President Obama’s presidential campaign. (Axelrod and I were both Chicago reporters for competitive newspapers way back in the early 1980s, but I’m sure he wouldn’t remember me.)

He tells very touching stories about marching with coal miners. Being from the San Francisco Bay Area, he was trying to stoke up marching fervor among the miners. He launched into a chant and was mortified when none of the miners followed suit.

And then a woman came up to him and touched his arm.

“It’s not that they don’t want to join you,” she said. “But they can’t chant.”

Meaning that they had severely compromised lung ailments associated with years of inhaling coal dust in mile-deep mines. Jones was in tears.

As I watched, I found myself flying way back to 1992, to the New Hampshire primary, when there were a huge number of candidates fighting for the Democratic primary. I had virtually no interest in politics at the time. I sat down with my husband to watch a debate with the candidates. Within 30 seconds, I pointed to Bill Clinton.

“He’s going to win,” I announced matter-of-factly. He was so incredibly handsome and intelligent and he spoke with such style and pizzazz. I guess he was “telegenic” in a way that, sadly, his wife could never be.

Please. Take a half hour and watch this amazing video. See if you don’t agree that Van Jones would be an extaordinary candidate for President! (As far as I know he has no plans to seek elected office.)

Then send the video to all your email contacts. Do Facebook/LinkedIn/Twitter. Talk to your friends and your neighbors and even the people who voted for you-know-who.

Jones makes a compelling case for those white factory workers who have been out of a job for four or more years. He forgives them for voting Republican. He carries you into the workers’ hearts and minds and lives. I found myself for the first time since the Election feeling some compassion for the voters on the other side.

Perhaps Van Jones can do the Bernie Sanders burn thing only better (he talks about Sanders in his speech.)

My favorite line of Jones: he was talking about you-know-who — the one who Twitters all night long and plays at being President during the week and then plays (for real) golf in Florida at his mansion each and every weekend.

"He’s not a liberal,” Jones said. “He’s not a conservative. He’s just a jackass.” How sweet it is to hear somebody telling it like it is with such style and grace.

Moon Over the Meadow at Sunrise

It is 7:14. The sun rose two minutes ago. Here is the moon over the meadow.

I like to begin my meditation before sunrise so I can feel the chi rising and passing through my body.

This morning, for some strange reason, I woke up at 4:48 a.m.

I KNOW WHY: MOONLIGHT WAS FLOODING THE BEDROOM! I stared and stared and watched as it and Venus passed through one window pane after another. I couldn't go back to sleep.

If you have been watching the night sky recently, you may have seen the moon not far from Venus.

Glorious.

I couldn't film Venus but I got seven seconds of the moon in the night sky! (Unfortunately I couldn't get the video to load.)

If you want to catch Venus, you have to do it before March 25th because it disappears from the night sky  after that.

Enough. Back to meditation.

Have a wonderful morning under this mysterious and miraculous sky!

A Reader Writes

In response to Thursday's post, I received the email below from my friend Michael Symons. 

It reminded me why I write and take photos.

Dear Claudia,

What a hopeful message is contained in this blog.

Awakened at my usual 3 a.m. and the first thing I saw was this photo which reminded me of all the beauty that is still left in this world.

Anger is good if it is channeled into something constructive - something that deals with the cause of the anger.

I am reminded of the alleged last words of the labor activist, Joe Hill: "Don't mourn, organize!"

Look how things changed in just a few hours:

After being caught in a lie, Jeff Sessions had to recuse himself but now he is being pressured to take it another step further and just resign.

Whether he does or not, let us grasp onto the hope that he might and even if he doesn't, let's just awaken every day with that beautiful photo you posted. That's the kind of beauty that even Trump and his gang can't drag down into the mud.

I always keep the words of my favorite poet, John Keats in mind.

His poem, "Endymion," begins:

"A thing of beauty is a joy forever.

Its loveliness increases;

It will never pass into nothingness"

Beauty can be measured in the freedoms we have as well as what  we see outside our windows on a morning like this.  And neither Trump nor Bannon nor Miller nor Sessions  nor Conway can ever destroy that kind of beauty.

Sorry for going on and on but your blog got to me this morning.

Keep the faith,

Michael

WRITING OUT OF ANGER -- AND DELIGHT

This is the view I woke up to.

I am posting this photo instead of writing the post that I had intended to write.

The post was going to be all of the names that people call HIM.

I collected names.

Then I realized that after I wrote the last post, I felt like I had been wrestling in the mud (or worse.) It took a while to shake the feeling.

Also, a friend and reader of this blog said to me the other day, "that last post, wow, you really have a ton of anger!"

Can I write about what is going on without anger? Should I? Anger is good sometimes, isn't it? Is it healthy to get angry and then stay angry, when HE and his minions are causing so much pain and turmoil in the world? Shouldn't I be writing about how his despicable decisions are going to hurt/kill millions of people?

(Consider for example what happens when people lose their health insurance. Millions will not get the care they need. People with serious illnesses will die.)

But does it help the situation to write about it in anger? What other way is there to write about it?

I haven't figured out answers to these questions. Until I do, I will (try) not to write about you know who.

I couldn't watch the speech the other night. I know I should have. It's my civic responsibility. But I just couldn't. As my husband watched in the living room, I lay in the bedroom with headphones on, listening to meditation music and reading a fantasy novel.

Recently, a woman I know told me that she was so upset about the vicious political debates swirling and flinging around on Facebook that she signed off the app... for good.

"You're not supposed to read something on Facebook and then feel like you want to jump off a bridge!"

How do you live/think/read/act/feel/write when the world feels like it's mired in...sh.. mud? I wish I could answer these questions.

xxxxxxxxx

(20 minutes later.)

AS I WAS WRITING THIS POST, THE WASHINGTON POST REPORTED:

"Top Republicans said Thursday that Attorney General Jeff Sessions should recuse himself from investigations of whether Russia interfered in the presidential 2016 election at the Justice Department and FBI.

"House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy said during an appearance on MSNBC Thursday morning that Sessions should bow out to maintain “the trust of the American people.”

"Minutes later, House Oversight and Government Reform committee chairman Jason Chaffetz joined McCarthy’s call, tweeting that “AG Sessions should clarify his testimony and recuse himself.”

"The calls from two of the House’s most prominent Republicans follow revelations that Sessions met with the Russian ambassador during election season. Under oath in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee for his confirmation hearing in January, Sessions had said that he had not met with any Russian officials.

I AM NOT ANGRY, I AM DELIGHTED. So maybe that is how to write. 

IN DELIGHT.