When Donald Trump exited the courtroom on January 25, 2024 after testifying in his own defense in the E. Jean Carrol defamation suit, he shook his head and said repeatedly, “This is not America. This is not America.”*  (Classic DT multi-purpose statement.)

The Pacific NorthWest (PNW) - and the Portland area in particular - have wowed and nourished me these past two weeks with stunning beauty, engaging people and hard-to-put-my-finger-on-it-qualities that make me certain this will not be my last rodeo here. I feel a sense of being held in a way that I normally only feel at home. With my first official book tour and events behind me, I feel a gentle tug back East - but not before sharing this with you.

My friend Jane had the coolest book launch party ever. Her memoir, Spirit Traffic brings readers into the saddle of her motorcycle as she rides cross-country with her college age son and husband – before returning home to an empty nest. In addition to the expected reading of enticing excerpts from her book, Jane included a Moth-style storytelling hour with the topic, What Adventure Looks Like to Me. While driving to the event, I mapped out my adventure story and hoped I’d have the nerve to tell it – but lucky for me – the slip of paper with my name on it wasn’t picked. Today however, in honor of my mother and the fact that none of us would be here without our mother, I want to tell my Mothering Adventure Story.

It’s a “working from home” day and I have the house to myself for once: just me, my thoughts, my work and the gently drifting snowflakes outside. I’m productive and focused until I receive a disturbing message from a client that sets my mind spinning. I feel like a caged animal. A brief conversation with a colleague helps me gain perspective that I want to write about. I grab my notebook, cup of tea and head to my favorite chair. But the phone rings and it’s someone I’ve been playing tag with, so I answer. After that call, I pause. Do I write or do I go outside for a walk? Can I afford to do either when I have a mountain of work to do?

A Simple Roadmap to Global Recovery

Sometimes I find myself saying outlandish things. It feels good to blurt these days, after spending eighteen years under the tutelage of a controlling leader where I learned not to trust anything I said unless I was parroting his doctrine.

Let’s Twalk…

Did you believe all, most or some of the QAnon schtick? Until you didn’t?

Welcome to the club.

I don’t mean the ex-QAnon club. I’m talking about a club much, much bigger than Q. I call it the Hoodwinked club, or H for short.

I’m sorry to say it, but I have to.

It had to get this bad.

Because this is what happens when mind control goes mainstream — when it seeps into our work, our play and our infrastructure — the laundromats, the buses, churches and city streets. This is what happens when mind control takes over the kitchen table and bedrooms of tens of millions of people.

Yes, the orange haired #@$!# did it. He is the one every finger can point at.

Polarization is a tried and true cult leader’s weapon. In one sweep of the sword, unethical leaders can clearly define who the enemy is while at the same time, galvanize the loyalty of their followers. Once polarization is normalized, knowing one’s enemy equates to knowing oneself — it’s like looking into a mirror of opposites.