Clare Consultation, LLC3084 Miles of Road
“We’ve just driven the entire length of Interstate 84,” Sara said, “and we’re only in Utah.” She was in the driver’s seat at that moment, and we were 500+ miles east of Portland, Oregon – the hometown we’d left at sunrise, encased in a rectangular cube of mostly yellow – a rental truck filled up with Sara’s 28-year lifetime of belongings. For a mom and daughter, this is one of those big… Read More
Privilege Highway
Recently I had the chance to visit with a long time friend, colleague and leader in the African American community. We found ourselves speaking of the urgently needed, but still largely inactive national dialogue on America’s race history and relations. He told me this story: “My friend was working with a group of teens at a local high school. There were black, brown and white students in the group. My friend had… Read More
Backward Thinking
Since 1996, I’ve included a suggestion in several syllabi for graduate courses. Each of the courses was required in the curriculum of students preparing as social science practitioners: therapists, educators, public administrators. Each had significant content drawn from scientific knowledge bases. And, because I was teaching them, each had significant content devoted to artistry. It’s been three decades since I made the decision to become an academic and devote my work life… Read More
A Heatwave of Independence
For three weeks plus, temperatures in Portland, Oregon have been above 90°. There has been no rain since June 1. I find myself longing for Slip&Slides, for Mr. Wiggle (video link for those who’ve forgotten – and for those who may have never known) – and resorting instead to random sidesteps into the spray of lawn sprinklers. In Portland, and all across the Pacific Northwest, June has generally been a mostly rainy month. … Read More
Speaking Earth Day
Yesterday, Gary and I spent the day with a small group of people investigating grief. It was a rich, intelligent, and healing time. We call the workshop The Nature of Grief. And, in it, we weave together Gary’s storytelling and literary acumen with my knowledge of psychology and education applied to emotional, mental and spiritual health. It’s good work. We can tell by the responses of the people who join us –… Read More
Cycles – Variation on an Easter Blog
Last week I had the great opportunity to be in Yellowstone – the first National Park in the world. Yellowstone stands out for loads of reasons – but recently I’ve learned another feature of its distinction. The park makes up over 20% of the largest generally intact ecosystem in our planet’s temperate zone. All of these are fun facts. But the realities that support them have gained particular significance to me from working alongside… Read More
50 Years after Bloody Sunday – Where is Elderhood?
ANSWER: It’s in every one of us. Really. Even in the headliners criticized by the vast and varied media. Overt or latent, Elderhood ™ is in you and it’s in me. It’s in Obama. It’s in Boehner. It’s in Netanyahu. And, most surely, Elderhood ™ is in John Lewis and each of the original Selma foot soldiers gathered today to remember Bloody Sunday – the horror they survived 50 years ago… Read More
The Snipers Within
I haven’t seen American Sniper, but I know it’s in a theater-near-me. It won’t be surprising that I’m not really a fan of war movies. I’m also not a fan of war. But, at bottom, I imagine there are very few who prefer annihilation over peace. From the media buzz related to the Academy Award nominee, I understand that the film stands on the premise that, with armed conflict underway, there is… Read More
Re: My Profession’s Role in Torture
I’m a professor of psychological and cultural studies. Gary Snyder is a poet and essayist. In an interview in the Paris Review, Snyder spoke of writing as his work. He spoke about integrity – in his work as a writer, and to my mind, immediately relevant to my profession – Psychology. This is what Snyder’s interviewer asked: You’ve written, “Changing the filter, wiping noses, going to meetings, picking up around the house, washing… Read More
Dear 2015
Dear New Year – Thanks for showing up. Thanks for being so matter-of-fact about it. For doing nothing at all out of the ordinary, but still, being inspiring. No matter how tired and pessimistic – no matter how overwhelmed we are by circumstances close in or strewn across this planet of ours, so out-of-control and horrific. No matter any of that and because of all of it you give most of us… Read More