Red's Wrap
Happiness. It's relative.
Tag: happiness
Circumstance
It occurred to me, driving across town and then up along Lake Michigan where there were short whitecaps on very blue water, that I might possibly be happy. Are you happy without reservation? I searched that thought, flipping through my inventory of dissatisfaction and… Continue Reading “Circumstance”
The Fruited Plain
I’m in danger of being happy. I resist the foreignness of it, this possibility of happiness. There must be a rock I’ve failed to turn over. But no, all of the rocks have been lifted up and the earth beneath them studied hard. It… Continue Reading “The Fruited Plain”
Mama’s Baby Robot
My implant is live. I am now part of cochlear nation. It’s two weeks to the day since my cochlear implant surgery. The magnet inside my head just sitting there all lonely met its match today. When it did, and the audiologists activated the… Continue Reading “Mama’s Baby Robot”
Be Bright and Beautful
There were long patches of my life when there were no photos. When I was a single mom was one of those times. I had my daughter’s school pictures but there weren’t a lot of other pictures. A few. Her father had been the… Continue Reading “Be Bright and Beautful”
What’s Next is Beautiful
More and more, I want to bust out. Change things up. Be redder. It’s about ownership, admission, sitting still, standing up, wearing my skin like a second skin, buying smaller jeans, reaching across the table for what I want, not waiting to have a… Continue Reading “What’s Next is Beautiful”
Inside Scoop
The trick to being happy is knowing how to manage unhappiness. I see all the blog posts, the lists of the ten things happy people do everyday, the five things happy people do before they wake up, the seventy secrets to happiness. I don’t… Continue Reading “Inside Scoop”
No Waves
Lately I’ve taken to asking people if they’re happy. We’ll be having a pretty normal conversation and I’ll blurt out, “Are you happy?” I’m not sure why this has become the question du jour. Today I was having lunch with a friend and he… Continue Reading “No Waves”
Missing Her
I am on the hunt for Carefree. I once was best friends with Carefree but I haven’t seen her since I was about seven. You know Carefree. She’s the one who’s barefoot. She’s not worried about being hungry because she’s got a peanut butter… Continue Reading “Missing Her”
Happy is a Razor
The tiny box of razor blades was right where I knew it would be, buried on the second shelf of the linen closet, amidst hotel bottles of shampoo and bubble packs of cold medicine. It was on my walk that it came to me.… Continue Reading “Happy is a Razor”
Snow Door | wisconsinacademy.org
Listen to Jan read her essay “Billy” presented on WUWM’s Lake Effect
Jan’s essay “At the Breakfast Bar” on WUWM Lake Effect
Jan’s essay “The Parish Hall,” on WUWM Lake Effect
“Fury Cannot Touch Me,” Modern Love, NYT, 9/29/11
Recent Comments