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The Featherless Parrot: Worrying About Worrying Too Much

Contemplating the exhausting, soul-destroying practice of constant worrying and how you might go about overcoming it

Oh poor little parrot, will they leave you all alone?
Do you fear an uncleaned cage,
an empty dish, or lack of home?

It makes me cry, such a sad sight indeed
You pluck out all those pretty feathers
I’m afraid you’ll start to bleed.

Besides yourself with worry
At what might not even happen
Will make you chilly and featherless in a hurry!*

From gargantuan issues (global warming, terrorism) to the minute (squirrels in my attic), I worry. In between those two extremes, from that which I have absolutely no control over to that which is easily remedied, there are a multitude of concerns like ever-vigilant sentries, with guns slung over their shoulders, marching to and fro and keeping me awake at night.

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Transcending the Sad Circus: Caring for Someone With Bipolar Disorder

A loving family’s secrets, struggles, and triumphs

~ All my life, I’ve asked myself why. What was the reason, the purpose, the lessons I was meant to learn, being born into the family I found myself in? On the inside of my mother’s wedding ring, which she still has but no longer wears due to her frail condition, is the inscription “We three against the world.” I fought against that worldview for a long time, as it seemed to forever place us—and me—in a never-ending adversarial position with all of humanity. It put me at odds with life.

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The world, and a letter written below it, with a pencil

Letter from a Jilted Lover

A valiant attempt at reconciliation, but also a dire warning

~ Dear Beloved,

This is very difficult for me to write, but it’s extremely important that I do so. I have tried to be patient. I offered my gifts to you freely, as a lover does, and all I expected in return was that you would respect me and treat me well. But something sinister has come between us that threatens to rip us violently from our warm embrace.

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