What a month it’s been! In just the past couple of weeks, the Pope made a passionate argument underscoring the need for humans to respect not only other humans, but other species and all life on Ear
The American working world is rarely family-friendly. The Pew study found that “16 percent of working mothers and 15 percent of working fathers say it is very difficult” to balance the responsibil
I awoke on the morning of January 1, 2013 — New Year’s Day — with what one might consider an unusual question. “What can I do to terrify myself this year?” Within an hour of posing t
The film, ‘The Mask You Live In,’ establishes clear connections between what one expert called “the pandemic of violence in America” and the repressed anger and hurt of boys and young men, as
College-aged women are four times more likely than any other age group to face sexual assault and in 90 percent of reported cases, the victim is acquainted with his or her attacker.
Now, as never before, we have an opportunity to come together as a global society to wage peace in the name of survival…and beyond survival, prosperity. It will take ordinary people like you and me
In the 21st century, we have the opportunity to break out of gendered limitations and move on to a better personhood. Women can bring their listening and cooperative values to men, and men can bring t
This Mother’s Day, by all means shower your mother with flowers, chocolates, and love. But let’s also think more deeply about the tremendous contribution mothers make every single day, and how we
Disasters make us wake up and realize all over again how precious life is, and how important health and security are to human happiness. Even here in the placid Berkshires, we need to think about disa
I can understand that food waste is a problem, and look at a statistic and tell you that it is terrible, but once I am confronted with images of the sheer magnitude of piles of wasted food and the sto
Can anyone doubt that climate change is real and upon us, already melting the glaciers, acidifying the oceans, and setting off droughts, floods and storms of Biblical proportions? The question is, now
I hope that this holiday season and throughout the year, we remember that giving can begin with how emotionally generous we are to ourselves. If we each take a deep breath and remember this, everyone
Since joining the Generosity Economy, I’ve been spending less money — especially on food and clothing. But I’ve also changed the way I approach purchasing things in general. I think longer befor
I love to give gifts, especially when they’re handmade by some of my talented women friends. What follows is a decidedly idiosyncratic list of some of the local woman-run craft businesses that are h
You hold an unsullied, childish notion that your soul, once breaking free of mortal restraint, will move on the wings of wind in the company of Dolly and other beloved creatures who have left the Eart
I like being called a lesbian. “Lesbian” sounds so cool, so special, and so different that I choose it for myself. Because I am different, and because words matter.
While community service really does start at home, it just can’t end there. So I’m going to show up for my family as best I can. But I’m also going to drag them to protests.
Change is accelerating and taking us forward in ways we cannot predict. We are going to need every ounce of community spirit, every fiber of resilience, courage and compassion in the months and years
Our local issue over the upgrading of Monument Mountain Regional High School is about the increasing stratification of American society. Public education is the one American social institution that ca
EDGE WISE: A new weekly column that moves women’s voices to center stage. Women of the Berkshire region, you are hereby invited to make this space your own! EDGE WISE will appear weekly, and my hope
I want to be able to write a letter to future generations that tells proudly how in my time, we stood up in the face of impending disaster and made the necessary changes in lifestyle, industry and eco
The silver lining of this autumn of our discontent is that the streets and proverbial water coolers of Great Barrington are suddenly buzzing with neighbors newly engaged with the civic life of our tow
We are the stewards of our community, and every decision we make matters. Letting our high school slide into disrepair…letting the character of our Main Street be lost.