Seeking esoteric answers to normal, messy questions — When I was seven, I had to have my first blood test. A few seconds into the draw, I fainted, and for years after that, I was terrified of needles. At some point, my mom spoke with a psychic about my phobia, who said that I likely had a past-life…

All that separates me from my neighbors is a line of blacktop driveway. I hear them get in and out of the car, I know when they have friends over or do some gardening or their kid has a tantrum. I mean, not to be creepy about it — I…

We didn’t have a chance to really talk, you know? — Hi Truck Guy. Do you remember me? I seemed to make an impression on you. I woke up out of a sound sleep last night remembering that I had parked my car in the wrong spot, so I got up to move it. I blearily put on yoga pants and…

May 6 is National Day of Prayer in the US and I have mixed feelings and a few suggestions. — “The National Day of Prayer is an annual day of observance held on the first Thursday of May, designated by the United States Congress, when people are asked “to turn to God in prayer and meditation”. The president is required by law (36 U.S.C. § 119) to sign a proclamation…

Healing isn’t what I thought it would be when I started in therapy in 2004. In fact, I’m not even sure the word “healing” had occurred to me then. I just knew I felt like crap and either wanted to die or get better. (More accurately, I didn’t want to…

What should happen next — It’s the time of year when I go through the rituals of spring cleaning, though this year that feels really different. As I get the stuff to goodwill or rearrange the furniture, I notice it’s with a mix of emotions. I’m really grateful for this house that has sheltered us…

I used to have this idea that I was 1/4 this and 1/8 that. To some extent, it’s true: it’s many Westerners’ common way of quantifying our heritage and acknowledging where our ancestors lived, particularly given the US’s status as home to some many diasporic peoples. I thought that my…

Miscarriage in another dimension — TW: medical situations, miscarriage In a parallel universe, I’m well into my second trimester. I don’t quite have the fortitude to illustrate that sci-fi timeline for you. But in some other world, my experience of miscarriage would have been very different from what I went through here in this one…

I’m saying no. Even to the happy noise from kids on scooters or dribbling basketballs. No cell phone talk from that loud lady in the distance who just has one of those voices that cut glass, no ringing binging buzzing phone of my own. No notifications pushed to laptop. No…