What I’ve learned about tripping toward eternity
A few months ago, one of my best friends introduced me to an organization called End Well
A non-profit foundation, it was founded in 2017 by Dr. Shoshana Ungerleider, who hosts the TED Health Podcast and is a frequent medical contributor on CNN, MSNBC and CBS News. …
I’m not so sure I want to hear it
This year, October isn’t terrifying
My husband and I have embraced our new life as climate refugees, fleeing from our beloved but fire-scorched Northern California back to our former home in Idaho. …
When email marketers won’t let you go
There are some email lists you’re happy to be on
You purposely signed up for them, so you could get the helpful newsletter, or never miss a new podcast episode or one of your favorite writers’ articles, or know what’s going on in your neighborhood. Maybe there are organizations you support and appreciate hearing from — especially if not every…
Was it assault, self-defense, or revenge?
Once upon a time, I hit a man
He wasn’t someone I knew. He was unarmed, unintimidating and sitting down, while I was standing up. There were lots of other people around, and I didn’t feel I was in any physical danger. So why did I, an avowedly non-violent, non-confrontational person, backhand this guy?
Let me set the…
Haiku for them, from a potential victim
Perspective from my inner five-year-old, who has tap shoes now
You may have noticed that the world is kind of a mess lately.
Lately, as in the past five years, or the past 30, or the past 500. Climate change, pandemic, the disastrous end of a chronic war, the Texas legisature — those are a few of the lowlights from just the past year. I’d keep listing reasons to worry about the state…
I’m about to register as a Republican (I can explain)
Ms. Abrams, you are one of my heroes.
If the world were a degree more rational or just, you would be governor of Georgia right now. The 2018 gubernatorial election in your state was famously stinky. Your opponent Brian Kemp was the Secretary of State overseeing the election, who during his tenure canceled a record number of voter…
Thinking of it that way feels so much better
This week, I confess I have fallen into error
It’s a mistake I have made, alas, many times over. It has to do with taking myself seriously. That leads to brooding about my life purpose, which prompts a lot of bother: setting goals against which to measure myself; pondering the state of the world (awful) and what I can…
It’s a much shorter list than what not to say
Someone you know has lost a loved one, and you have a problem
You run into a neighbor at the grocery store. It’s the first time you’ve seen her since you heard her husband died. She’s not someone you know well — you haven’t lived in the neighborhood very long. You’ve had a few chats with her as she walked her dog past…
It’s taken me some time, but I can talk about it now
I should never have taken the bet, but I’m not one to back down from a challenge. And I tried, I really did. I gave it my all. But trying to get a wombat to ride a unicycle is harder than I thought. I mean, I knew it wouldn’t be…
Jan M Flynn
Writer & educator. The Startup, Writing Cooperative, P.S. I Love You, The Ascent, more. Award-winning short fiction. Visit me at www.JanMFlynn.net.
