I was walking up Connecticut Avenue in DC one day and saw a man in a park literally slitting his wrists. I stopped and told him to stop doing it. He looked at me in amazement and said, "You have no idea how many people have just walked by me without saying anything." I called 911, but he ran off before anyone arrived. Also, the NYC subway is terrible. Thanks for this piece.
I feel honored to have had that collection of your experiences and thoughts brought to life for me. And I'm glad for the evidence that you didn't die of an exploded bladder, in which case the world would have missed your telling it.
this is making me think of a (nurse?) doing a PSA about full bladders and car accidents - yes, you can explode your bladder. and yes I drive all the time with the desperate need to pee (lisa, thank you for acknowledging this silent epidemic) so now I have both fears competing in my mind.
My mother-in-law is a retired nurse. She has burned it into our brains to never, ever drive or be a passenger in a car if you have a full bladder. A burst bladder apparently never heals properly -- that's IF you survive it -- and you'll be miserable with lifelong complications.
Lisa, I hope your *next* book project is a bit more in the realm of essay / fiction / memoir or other general writing about the human experience writ large (rather than that topic which I know you would love to release! ;). You are a wonderful writer, and have much to offer... thanks for sharing this :)
Beautiful. We all, in our own imperfect ways, duct-tape some means of getting what we as human beings need in life. I do love contemplating the strange wonderfulness of how things in this world, like cigarettes, can be simultaneously an incentive for callously anti-human behavior and a catalyst for human connection.
Beautiful. Nearing 60 (and coincidentally a West coast resident currently in Manhattan for work) I have had a few similar experiences this week (including the desperate need to pee on the subway). Humans can so often provoke misanthropy -- experiencing and witnessing these brief connections, especially if we remain open to them, can be transformative.
Thanks for your work in this realm! I found you through the gender world (mom of a TI natal young adult daughter), but, *and* appreciate and relate to all your writing.
I was walking up Connecticut Avenue in DC one day and saw a man in a park literally slitting his wrists. I stopped and told him to stop doing it. He looked at me in amazement and said, "You have no idea how many people have just walked by me without saying anything." I called 911, but he ran off before anyone arrived. Also, the NYC subway is terrible. Thanks for this piece.
I found this funny, relatable, and beautiful, Lisa. Meaningful. Profoundly human. Thank you—I’ll be reading this again.
I feel honored to have had that collection of your experiences and thoughts brought to life for me. And I'm glad for the evidence that you didn't die of an exploded bladder, in which case the world would have missed your telling it.
this is making me think of a (nurse?) doing a PSA about full bladders and car accidents - yes, you can explode your bladder. and yes I drive all the time with the desperate need to pee (lisa, thank you for acknowledging this silent epidemic) so now I have both fears competing in my mind.
My mother-in-law is a retired nurse. She has burned it into our brains to never, ever drive or be a passenger in a car if you have a full bladder. A burst bladder apparently never heals properly -- that's IF you survive it -- and you'll be miserable with lifelong complications.
What a lovely essay.
This line stands out: "It’s so easy to forsake gratitude for grievance; I do it all the time."
I daresay we all do.
Lisa, I hope your *next* book project is a bit more in the realm of essay / fiction / memoir or other general writing about the human experience writ large (rather than that topic which I know you would love to release! ;). You are a wonderful writer, and have much to offer... thanks for sharing this :)
Beautiful. We all, in our own imperfect ways, duct-tape some means of getting what we as human beings need in life. I do love contemplating the strange wonderfulness of how things in this world, like cigarettes, can be simultaneously an incentive for callously anti-human behavior and a catalyst for human connection.
Beautiful. Nearing 60 (and coincidentally a West coast resident currently in Manhattan for work) I have had a few similar experiences this week (including the desperate need to pee on the subway). Humans can so often provoke misanthropy -- experiencing and witnessing these brief connections, especially if we remain open to them, can be transformative.
Thanks for your work in this realm! I found you through the gender world (mom of a TI natal young adult daughter), but, *and* appreciate and relate to all your writing.
How do you walk by a human being about to commit suicide and just think SEP?
Hmm. What if we accidentally traded people dying of lung cancer for people dying of isolation? 🚬 ❤️🩹