Author
I write stories about love, resistance to letting go, flying away, the pain of those left behind, and the lessons they teach us.
It wasn’t enough for me to collect a remembering stone from a graveyard, to frame photographs of my grandparents for my altar, to dust off another piece of the ancestral puzzle as a museum display. The discovery of clues was fascinating, but the reanimation of frozen emotions was expansive and transformative.
Through a historical lens we have told each other stories to feel safe in an uncertain world. Through a scientific lens storytelling is about building connection through oxytocin, endogenous opioids, and dopamine.
Two projects are in various stages of development.
I AM THE WATER: A Memoir
The death of my mother and a roots journey to Europe launched me into a fresh start in Berlin, where the wounds of the Holocaust are in plain view. There I confront intergenerational trauma, my pain of abandonment, and the restoration of my father’s Jewish lineage.
“I was born in San Francisco in 1963. Haight Street and Golden Gate Park were just 20 blocks away. In 1967 the Summer of Love was in full bloom. Hippies from all over the country migrated west, brandishing counter-cultural clothing, gathering in protest against the Vietnam War, experimenting with utopian dreams, ingesting a synthetic path to enlightenment, or dropping in to hear the spirited philosophy of Alan Watts.”
Although my intention was to unearth stories about my father and grandparents, I never intended to become lost in the melancholy and injustice of war.
When are we given the time and space to feel grief and sadness, to learn that suffering is a part of life? Facing our own pain and darkness is not for the faint of heart, but it expands our capacity to love.
VOCALIZE.US
Stories that capture the presence of group experience. The curated words of a group story become an enduring artifact that connects people. VOCALIZE lets each storyteller contribute a piece to the whole. Here’s an example.
I am alert yet flowing
with more courage to go where I want to be.
I am a challenger, believer, dreamer
waiting to release my energy, and drive for impact.
I am a small child
full of grief and profound love
I am coming from a sadness that still fills me, partly
an inconsolable dreamer.
I am battered and writhing
Alarm bells ring
nervous and doubtful
disappointment stings.
I am hungry
Grateful for the playfulness
hoping my related ones
still love me despite the mess.
I am clumsy and dirty
rooted in my authenticity.
Ich bin ein Berliner
Unprepared to be anything but me.
I am east and west
a footprint that does not leave a trace
a zone-switching warrior, watch me go!
I am all dimensions, more than I can know.
