Life at an Artists' Residency, (Which is and isn't just like Camp)
Yesterday I sat down mid-afternoon, under a robin’s egg blue sky, gazing at the treetops beginning to turn yellow and red. I picked up my...
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AUTHOR | SPEAKER
Dr. Lise Deguire
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Try Swiping Right
I saw an old friend last weekend (name and info changed.) Mary is a social worker, a few years older than I, smart and witty, quietly...
Searching for "The Roses Man"
I met “The Roses Man” when I was 5 or 6 years old, attending Franklin Elementary School in East Orange, New Jersey. I was freshly...
How the Witch Became a Model
When I was five, my heaven was a tiny dusty theater at Upsala College in East Orange, New Jersey. My father taught music history there....
Tracy Chapman Trounced Me but It's OK
I was a senior at Tufts University when I entered a competition with an improbable band comprised of the Rabbi, the Dean, and two other...
Winning the Worst Award
Picture me at 22 years old, bright eyed with big hair and a big smile to match. I strode the campus of my college, Tufts University, with...
Darkness Descends; An Ode to Joy
It crept in like a low fog, so lightly that I didn’t notice it beginning to swirl around me. A vague unease, a weighty sigh. The sun...
The everyday grief of an "obsolete" mom
What is the reward of being a good mother to a blessedly healthy child? They leave you. How could it all be gone? Where did it go?
"I was just lucky:" Women, please stop saying these words
Are you trying to raise a strong daughter? Are you trying to be a strong woman? How we talk about our successes is so important.
My Worst Fear: Public Speaking (to Nobody)
What do you do when your worst fear actually happens?
How This Grinch Forgave Her Mother (Mostly)
“Have you forgiven your mother?” Oddly, this gut-wrenching, intensely personal question follows me wherever I go. I am a psychologist and...
Dreams Past; Goals Ahead
“A goal is a dream with its work boots on. A goal is a dream you’ve decided to make real.” Rachel Hollis. I turned 60 last month....
The Problem with "Women Talking"
Sarah Polley’s Women Talking is a beautiful ensemble piece, in which women gather to discuss how to handle a violent crisis. The...
Disfigurement: A Call for Awareness
(republished, with permission, from the Pennsylvania Psychologist) When I was four years old, I survived a fire which burned away my...
How NOT to Turn Into your Parents
My grandmother “Memere” sang every morning as she opened her lace curtains, welcoming the sun into the bedroom we shared. Her chirping...
Christmas Angels Among Us
When I was four years old, an angel left me my very own Christmas tree. I lay on a soft twin bed, tucked in the corner of a wood-paneled...
I Refuse to Participate in this Nonsense
“Rat-a-tat tat, rat-a-tat tat, rat-a-tat tat,” An ancient cassette slowly spun in a tape player, miraculously still functioning. “Rat-tat...
Your Accidental Activist
Somehow, I have become an activist. This was never my intent. All I ever planned was to write my memoir. I did not intend to be a public...
Marc's Anniversary Visit
Every October, the light changes, the sun hanging lower in the sky. Every October, the leaves flash to orange, yellow and red, and drift...
"Burn Baby Burn"
[Author note: In recognition of this back-to-school time, here is a reprint of my blog about bullying. Many children are bravely...
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