Rollercoasters and the Lake
I had two books come out this week. To say it’s been a wild ride should win some sort of award as understatement of the millennium. A couple of my early reviewers mentioned that it was like a roller coaster ride. I liked it, considering that was exactly the effect I was trying to…
Slippery Walls and a Comfy Seat
Sometimes it feels as if I am at the bottom of a well with slippery walls. It’s rarely as bad as it sounds. Or bad at all. My writer’s cave feels like this, a combination of must and should and just can’t not. I love being in it. So much so that I…
Sympathy, Empathy, and Not Making it Worse
It’s tough. Witnessing someone we care about going through something painful can bring even the strongest of us to our knees. We struggle with what to say, what to do, how to act, how to help. It’s no accident that the language of condolence has been distilled down to an easy-to-remember script:…
Rise. And Rise Again.
My name, Pascale, is related to Easter. It’s, admittedly, an odd choice for atheist parents to name their daughter, but I digress. Rebirth is my middle name. (Actually, Elizabeth is my middle name, but you know what I mean.) For whatever reason, renewal, reinvention, and renaissance have been on the marquis of the theater…
Your Check Engine Light Is On
Even the most rudimentary, single-celled organism has the ability to seek pleasure and avoid pain. Why, then, are we – as complex beings with consciousness and choice – taught that the pursuit of pleasure and avoidance of pain are the root of all suffering? After decades of asking, and searching, I still…
The Price
I’ve been creating a series of novels with a recurring theme: the price of the life we desire. (You can get yourself a chapter right here.) They explore relationships, career choices, and feeling right in your own skin. It’s a theme that has woven through nearly every choice I’ve made in my adult life. [In…
For My Mothers
The flavor is not quite the same. I don’t lack access to any ingredient, spice or seasoning one can imagine, nor the ability to have it. I don’t lack culinary experience, as a once-professional chef. I don’t lack desire. The texture is not quite the same. I don’t lack the availability of any technology…
Quitting and Beginning
I was about to quit. Perhaps you know, earlier this year I fell into a period of darkness. It was a crisis of faith that pushed me to question not only my chosen calling, but also the entire set of beliefs around which I formed the life I currently live. The rushing stream…
The Generosity of Sadness
One of my favorite healers (and human beings) used the phrase ‘generosity of sadness’ in our last conversation. I thought it was so poetic and beautiful that I grabbed the closest notepad and wrote it down. I didn’t know what it meant. Perhaps I still don’t. But it felt like something in my mouth demanding…
Addiction to Suffering
There was a point in my spiritual journey where I found myself highly disturbed by the people around me. No, not the ‘regular’ people of everyday life… the angry driver, the ignorant telemarketer, the rude flight attendant. I was annoyed by the people in the various spiritual communities I had joined. I felt incredibly triggered,…