Working On My Core
It was Pilates that first put me in touch with core muscles, even though I came to it with years of dance training. After a back injury took me out of ballet class, I was looking for a way to stay fit. The instructor quietly sized up my body, and said, “You’re toned, but weak.” (Ouch.) Since that time, I’ve done hundreds of hundreds, and all sorts of resistance exercises to find core strength. Now I’m ready to tackle it from the inside. And that’s why I called a therapist.
Illustration by Marcos Chin
The Power of Vulnerability
I’ve been riveted, listening to Brene Brown in her TED talk. PLEASE, take the time to watch this. It’s reassuring and thirst quenching. Here’s how Brown describes courage:
The original definition of courage, when it first came into the English language is from the Latin word, coeur, meaning heart, and it is to tell the story of who you are with your whole heart.
Image: Women in Tub, 1949, Saul Steinberg
Ending the Week On an Up Note
If for no other reason than happy graphics. Illustration by Christopher David Ryan
Look out, Frank Gehry!
Barbie made her first appearance on this day in 1959. Ruth Handler created her not as a career woman, but as a receptacle for little girls’ fantasies of marriage and glamorous outfits. Two architects consulted with Mattel on the design of this new doll, which comes loaded with a hardhat, pink blueprint bag, and a skyline imprinted on her dress. Read Always a Bridesmaid, Never a Bride, my tribute to Barbie on her 50th birthday.
Idiot’s Guide to House Cleaning
Under my mother’s watchful eye, our home was immaculate. Not only were the floors spic and span, but the linen closet and kitchen cabinets were so elegantly organized as to be museum worthy. I did not inherit the clean gene. Don’t get me wrong. I’m not a slob. But while some find it therapeutic to break out the Ajax, I’m far happier when someone does the scrubbing for me. Do you like to clean?
Photograph by Guy Batey
It’s International Women’s Day. How About a Hug!
Today, we celebrate the centennial of International Women’s Day, when over one million people attended rallies in support of women’s right to work, vote, be trained, hold public office and be free of discrimination. I’m in awe of the visionary women who took to the streets for their dignity and freedom, paving the way for us all. Case in point: Shirley Chisholm, who was the first black woman elected to Congress, and is seen in this exuberant photo during her 1972 campaign for President.
I Miss My Dad
One of the hardest parts of being single, and what evokes the most envy of my married friends, is not having that one person who is going to put me first (or at least second). In the last year of my father’s life, during our frequent phone conversations, I knew this was the irreplaceable relationship. I was always his #1, with my well being uppermost in his mind. I really miss that.
Image: Dad, 2007, Dana Schutz. See her drawings at the Atlanta Contemporary Art Center.
How To Explain a Bad Hair Day?
Ugh. My hair. It would be easy to chalk it up to mood, but that doesn’t explain why it looked okay on Monday, when I was equally as miserable. How come there’s such variation from day to day, especially in L.A. when it’s mostly sunny and dry? And why does my coif look its best just hours before I’m scheduled for a cut? Can you relate?
Image: Bubble Wrap by Hendrik Kerstens
Archive for March, 2011
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FIRST PERSON SINGULAR is a guide to surviving, thriving and sometimes just getting through a single day. Created by Wendy Braitman (more…)
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