memoir Archives

Why We Write, Why We Read
Why We Write, Why We Read

Books, Life Lessons, Readers, Reflections, Writing

Why We Write, Why We Read

Writers write to make sense of their experiences and share their insights. Readers read memoirs to find inspiration, hope, and perspective. “I haven’t read your book, but I can see why you wrote it,” one of my physicians said to me at a follow-up appointment. “It must have been healing to write.” I’ve reflected on this comment for two months now, not quite sure why I feel unsettled by it. Yes, writing Standing at Water’s Edge helped me process and make sense of my young son’s leukemia and the impact it had on our lives. Reliving (required, and very much a part of the process) and writing about those stressful years of [...]

Janice Post-White2022-07-30T08:26:32-04:00July 30th, 2022|Categories: Books, Life Lessons, Readers, Reflections, Writing|Tags: books, memoir, Reader, Takeaway, Writer|

COVID-19 Interrupted Life: How Will You Move On?
COVID-19 Interrupted Life: How Will You Move On?

Cancer, COVID-19, Health, Psychology, Survival

COVID-19 Interrupted Life: How Will You Move On?

Photo by Kristopher Roller on Unsplash Life, Interrupted: Everyone, it seems, is reflecting on the first year of the pandemic. What’s your takeaway on how this past year has affected you, your life? I resisted but finally took twenty minutes to jot down how my routines changed (very little, other than no travel or coffee dates) and how the circumstances influenced my perspective, attitude, mood, and energy (anyone else block out the first four months?). Whether or not you even care to look back, most of us will concur that life has been interrupted. The one we were familiar with, anyway. And the changes we’ve had to make are dragging on, far longer than [...]

Janice Post-White2021-04-02T14:46:36-04:00March 24th, 2021|Categories: Cancer, COVID-19, Health, Psychology, Survival|Tags: Life interrupted, memoir, moving on after covid-19, Suleika Jaouad, surviving cancer|

Regrets: What To Do When We Have Them
Regrets: What To Do When We Have Them

Health and Wellness, Life Lessons, Parenting, Psychology, Resilience

Regrets: What To Do When We Have Them

istockphoto by stereohype “Have no regrets” my friend murmured after I shared my angst over decisions I faced as my father approached death. That was a decade ago, and I’ve been mulling over regrets ever since. Is it even possible to live life without the remorseful “I can’t believe I did/said that” torment we inflict upon ourselves? And how do we move on from this all-too-human self-criticism? I revisited regret this week. For my writing class, we were to write a scene in which a character does something despicable and then rationalizes his actions. I take my homework seriously—even after all these years—and I contemplated the assignment all week. Despicable is such a strong [...]

Janice Post-White2021-02-19T17:35:48-05:00February 19th, 2021|Categories: Health and Wellness, Life Lessons, Parenting, Psychology, Resilience|Tags: Compassion, Forgiveness, Letting go, memoir, Regrets|

On identity: Who we are and who we are meant to be
On identity: Who we are and who we are meant to be

Resilience

On identity: Who we are and who we are meant to be

In her memoir, Fairest, which debuted this week, Meredith Talusan dives deep into who she was, has become, and is now as she lives her chosen gender identity. She grew up an albino boy in a rural Philippine village, immigrated to America at age fifteen, graduated from Harvard University a gay man, and then transitioned as a woman. In an engaging and carefully crafted story, she navigates the reader through issues of race, class, sexuality, and love as she explores the intersection of her identities as a white-appearing immigrant and a gender-nonconforming person. We all struggle through life with defining who we are, who we want to be, and making choices to actualize our desires and [...]

Janice Post-White2020-05-30T12:14:26-04:00May 30th, 2020|Categories: Resilience|Tags: class, gender, Identity, memoir, race, resilience|