Because Nothing Matters®
Ever since the dawn of my activist days, now over 55 years ago (!) I always idealized Cuba. In those days I had no glimmer of awareness of trauma, neglect, or any of what I had experienced or of what now occupies and preoccupies me night and day. I loved the image of Che Guevara, […] The post Alone and In the Dark: Isolation, Abandonment, Ferocity appeared first on Ruth Cohn .
Last week we went to see the museum exhibit of Monet in Venice. It was beautiful, all the soft muted colors of water lilies and more. I do love the gentle pastel colors, and I do love my pink. But admittedly, I will take Diego Rivera any day. I prefer the hard lines of realism […] The post Colors of Pride: History Shame, Respair appeared first on Ruth Cohn .
Although our mom started the reminders about her Mother’s Day wishes at least a month in advance of the day, Father’s Day was never much of a “thing” in our family. As an immigrant/refugee with mixed feelings about everything “American” our dad was somewhere between dismissive and contemptuous about all the customs and holidays that […] The post Fathers’ Day: Depression, Transition to Parenthood,…
In 1996, The Vagina Monologues first appeared in San Francisco. It was an amazing work of theater, combining some of my most passionate interests: trauma, politics and art. It was a brilliant work of theater illustrating in short scenes, the many faces of the ubiquitous sexual exploitation and victimization of women and girls in the […] The post Staying the Course: History, Healing, Self Image…
On May 25, it will be six years since the tragic murder of George Floyd. It seems like just a flash moment since I wrote my blog marking the one-year anniversary. “Pandemic time”, like “trauma time”, has a quality of hazy unreality to it. And much as we are better coming to understand the mechanisms […] The post George Floyd, Six Years Later – Remembering, Reliving, Forgetting, Forgiving appeared…
My first real love was a “bad-ass.” He was, wildly good-looking, European and chain-smoked “Gitanes” which were very strong, unfiltered cigarettes. When he moved out of the apartment we shared for 10 years, the previously white walls were grayish black, and it took a while for even fresh paint to extinguish the smell. He was […] The post Thoughts About Violence: Protectors, Maximum Security, Shame…
One of these rainy nights, I happened to hear an interview with a woman I had not heard of, named Annabelle Gurwitch, an actress, activist and author. With wry humor and comedic irony, she was talking about her new memoir, The End of My Life is Killing Me: The Unexpected Joys of a Cancer Slacker. […] The post Hope to Change: Shock, Hope, Grief appeared first on Ruth Cohn .
When I started college in 1973, it was a time of great political and social ferment in the US, and in a lot of other places too. I barely had time for the whole new academic life that I was starting, because I was steeped in all kinds of activism. On Saturday mornings our regular […] The post Contradictions: Heroism, Sexual Abuse, Reconciliation appeared first on Ruth Cohn .
Since time immemorial I have had a complex relationship with my body. By age 11, I was in the grip of what I later came to learn was anorexia, a baffling interplay between control and utter loss of control. I was ferociously “disciplined” and able to resist food while having no effective will to eat […] The post Body of Knowledge: War, Emotion, Attachment appeared first on Ruth Cohn .
As far back as I can remember, I longed for a best friend. I guess a best friend represented the equivalent of a beloved partner or even parent who placed me first and loved me differently, more than any other. Something about being chosen and special; some of the major things that are missing in […] The post Friendship Matters: Dreams, Friendship-Wreck, Janina appeared first on Ruth Cohn .