"My participation in diet culture was not only time-consuming, but mind-consuming"
Letting go… of diet culture
Category: Uncategorized
March 25: The day “go on with your life” began
For 41 years I’ve met March 25 with feelings of varying degrees of “This day sucks.” Some years I put my fingers in my ears and try to tune it all out. Some years I sprinkle “blood” on my doorstop and hope it passes over me.
Salad Dressing & A Beard (I’ll connect the dots)
Way (and I’m talking WAY) back in my serious weight-loss days (2005-2009), I belonged to a fabulous (and eclectic) online group on the Weight Watchers website for people who wanted to lose 100 pounds, give or take. There, I met (and am still friends with) people who challenged everything I thought about weight standards, body … Continue reading Salad Dressing & A Beard (I’ll connect the dots)
Introducing: Two-Hour Memoir Mentorship
When I started writing An Obesity of Grief in 2008, I had no direction, only a vague idea of the story I wanted to tell. I became frustrated when, after two years of writing, I still hadn’t identified a unifying theme, so I put it away, went to graduate school, and didn’t pick it up … Continue reading Introducing: Two-Hour Memoir Mentorship
Cover Design Poll! (and an excerpt)
I’ve been pinching myself all week (and not sleeping well) as my book, An Obesity of Grief: A Journey from Traumatic Loss to Undying Love, is now in production mode. Edits are complete, and now we’re deciding on a cover design. Help us decide by clicking on this link: Koehler Books Cover Poll. (I promise … Continue reading Cover Design Poll! (and an excerpt)
What I’m Reading (and what are YOU reading?)
"With all the partisan bitching and divisive news cycles, reading memoir helps me feel like I'm part of something more significant."
Oklahoma! practice, 1977
This is the only audio I have of Bruce. A BIG thank you to the late Bob Jones, Jasper High School choir director and a dear friend of Bruce's, for sending this to Carlene in 2000. If you have any audio or video of Bruce that you can share, please let me know. You can … Continue reading Oklahoma! practice, 1977
Grief Research
Having spent the better part of two years writing a memoir about how I learned (and am still learning) to live with grief, I can say for certain that grief isn’t exclusively linked to death.
Life In (and on the brink of leaving) the Bubble
March 12, 2020: Jim had minor surgery. In the hospital waiting room, large bottles of hand sanitizer were placed on every table and everyone sat far apart from each other. It was clear we’d all heard of something called coronavirus, especially when I sneezed and the entire room got quiet. “It’s just allergies, I’m sure,” … Continue reading Life In (and on the brink of leaving) the Bubble
The Feeling that Will Never Have an Explanation
I’m writing this on February 28, 2021, and I hear a train a mile away as the crow flies. When the wind blows a certain way, its whistle is as loud as if that train was passing through the valley that is my backyard. On February 28, 1983, two weeks before my due date, the … Continue reading The Feeling that Will Never Have an Explanation
Lynn Haraldson, Author and Writing Mentor 