Many of us are vulnerable to suggestion, our memories blurry and uncertain. But intense emotion can also etch an experience in memory with every detail intact. Overly involved therapists can push a certain narrative until their client believes it verbatim. But the mind can also shelter us from pain and release it back to us little by little, as we can handle it.
(Photo by Patti Gabriel) When I learned that Jovenel Moïse, president of Haiti, had been assassinated—after riots and demands that he resign—something inside me crumpled. Again? I was in Haiti during its 2010 presidential elections, along with the professional photographer who shot the image above, Patti Gabriel. We…
Dancing in groups can strengthen social bonds, researchers have found; it brings a feeling of connection and unity. Why? Because when we are all moving in the same way at the same time, swept up by rhythm and melody, the boundaries of our lonely little separate selves blur.
Newt, a study in independence. Photo by John Griswold Newt is an orange tabby that hangs out on the extensive bike trails in St. Louis’ Metro East. Chances are, if you are walking, running, or cycling in Newt’s territory and see a group stopped ahead, they are petting…
“Thinker on a Rock,” by Barry Flanagan, Wash U campus. Photo by John Griswold One of the few syntheses available to us is that it is hard to know what we are until we are mostly formed. Others may spot aspects of us at a glance, the way civilians…
Each episode of "Lupin" brings the joy of a man living by his wits and prevailing, in a clever and playful way. We do not do a lot of that.
Photo by John Griswold My sons and I were resting while it rained. I had asked them to help me demo a damaged deck, and while I ran the saw, they carried joists and deck lumber to the curb. We had only worked a couple of hours but…
A civilization lost in translation? One whose stories had to be told by others? Those are factors, but the bigger piece, the Saint Louis Art Museum’s Nubia exhibit confirms, is that Westerners were blinded by their own assumptions.
Prof. Rebecca Copeland, in her home with her collection of kimonos (Credit Joe Angeles/Washington University) I so enjoyed Dr. Rebecca Copeland’s mystery, The Kimono Tattoo, that I wanted to solve the next mystery. Not the sequel (though she is writing one) but…
Westminster champion Wasabi. (Photo by Jack Grassa courtesy of WKC.jpg) Ah, Westminster! Where else can a trapezoidal head, or an egg-shaped one, be a mark of honor? Dogs are my favorite sport, and dog shows one of its spectacles. I watch rapt, drinking in the elegant curve of…