Human Suffering and Living Life with Love and Meaning
By Barbara Kohlenberg, Ph.D.
We live in a world full of pain. It is estimated that 50% of the U.S. population has been exposed to trauma, and yet only 5% of men and about 10% of women go on to be impaired by that trauma, or to develop Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). How can we understand this? We have rampant human suffering, where people are subject to the unbearable (loss, physical assault, violent deaths, illness, divorce, natural disasters, war, exploitation, betrayal…). And yet most people who have experienced trauma come through it and months or years later, are seemingly back to feeling themselves.
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Spring Training
By George Perreault
For Joe Crowley
sun skin wind same as walked
Uncle Joe’s service, the world
still dressed gray and brown
but almost as if soft rain
had tumbled down the night,
a gate swings open and you
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A Basque Homeland Song
By Carolyn Dufurrena
I spent a week recently in Elko, listening to the rhythms and difficult syllables of Euskera, the language of the Basque people, as part of the celebration of “Basques and Buckaroos” at the National Cowboy Poetry Gathering (the Gathering). Three young women, champion bertsolaris, or improvisational singers, came to share this cultural tradition with their Nevada cousins. They compete for national recognition in this difficult medium, and one of their members Maialen Lujanbo, is the first woman to have been crowned the national champion. They sang back and forth, at the drop of a hat, pairing improvisational rhymes with traditional melodies, a translator attempting to keep up with “at least the idea” of the impromptu sung conversation.
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Art—Connecting Through Experience
By Susanne Forestieri
I have cancer. It’s a terrible way to learn how much you are loved. My family and friends rallied around me, and I found I was never alone. Flowers keep arriving at my door by messenger, and friends bring flowers from their gardens. One friend went beyond my expectations, bringing me healthy juices, flowers, and treats I probably shouldn’t be eating.
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Resistance from a Place of Love
By Autumn Harry
Indigenous Peoples are deeply connected to land, spiritually and inherently. Long before settlers arrived in the Americas, Indigenous Peoples lived freely throughout the land with uncontaminated waters, abundant wildlife, and plentiful resources, maintaining an optimal quality of life. Throughout the Great Basin, Indigenous Peoples continue as caretakers of the land while embracing traditional ways of living.
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