M.C. Easton

Winners and Losers

Today a middle-aged Korean woman and I learned that American culture divides people into winners and losers. Or so her ESL textbook assured us. Americans view life as a “race for success,” the textbook authors claimed. Those who play the game well are rewarded. And those who don’t? They can feel useless and devalued, sinceContinue reading “Winners and Losers”

Listening as Discovery

On any given day, the writing center where I work exudes a cacophony of smells: there is curry–both African and Indian, the honey-musk of perfume, chalky talcum, roasted coffee, rain-steeped leather, and–on occasion–the rank sweat, aged and thick, of students who have not yet learned to wear deodorant in the U.S. To imagine I knowContinue reading “Listening as Discovery”

Into the Gray

I have a problem. I love certainty. Labels. Categories. Classifications: fiction or nonfiction, ethical or unethical, subject or verb. As a child, I crammed a pine bookcase with glossy paperbacks of E.B White and Louisa May Alcott and Lloyd Alexander. I lined up the little volumes alphabetically and counted them when I needed reassurance that the world spun onContinue reading “Into the Gray”

Put the Sledgehammer Down and Step Away from Your Fear

So my regular swim instructor and I approach fear the same way. Soldier up. Power through it. Pick up the sledgehammer and smash through that wall, baby. But this latest lesson was different. A woman walked down the pool deck and introduced herself as the substitute for my class. She reminded me of Olympic swimmers I’d seen on television, petiteContinue reading “Put the Sledgehammer Down and Step Away from Your Fear”

Pimpology: Women at Market Price

That’s right, gentlemen. Step right up. In 48 lessons, you too can learn how to collect, manage, and sell your very own stable of prostitutes. You too can pimp your way to fame and fortune. Learn the game from this industry-recognized pimp. The American dream can be yours! I wish I were joking. But thisContinue reading “Pimpology: Women at Market Price”

An Ex-Mormon Meets the World

If you know any ex-Mormons, please be patient with us. A favorite Mormon creed is to be “in the world but not of it.” And to be “set apart” is to be formally blessed for a calling within the church. To be marked as different–as a Mormon–is synonymous with being chosen by god. At 20 I left all this behind.Continue reading “An Ex-Mormon Meets the World”

Truth Will Out: Stop Silencing and Start Talking

When I was 25 years old, I opened a conversation with my parents about the past. Or tried to. I asked my parents some difficult questions. I wanted to hear their own experience of our family history. I wanted to rip off the blood-crusted bandages, so we could all begin to heal. My family had operatedContinue reading “Truth Will Out: Stop Silencing and Start Talking”

Reblog Friday: The U.N. Calls out the Vatican

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/17/world/europe/un-sex-abuse-panel-questions-vatican-officials.html?ref=unitednations&_r=0 Whether you’re a devout Catholic or an agnostic humanist, it can only be good news when the United Nations calls the Vatican to task for shielding known sex offenders and, in some cases, obstructing justice. Child welfare trumps any organization’s instinct to protect its own. And religious freedom does not grant freedom to abuseContinue reading “Reblog Friday: The U.N. Calls out the Vatican”

How to Heal

“You’re really fighting the water there,” a woman said to me after I finished my practice swim today. Yup. A one-woman war against the volume of a swimming pool. Not going so well. “Try being one with the water–floating with it–instead of fighting it.” It would have sounded too New-Age-meets-Bruce-Lee if I hadn’t seen herContinue reading “How to Heal”

The Wisdom of Humility

Today an Iranian friend called me humble. Coming from her, it was a profound compliment. It warmed my soul. But is it true? What is humility anyway? And why do some cultures value it and others, like mine, scoff at it? All I can do is put in my two cents. And here’s what IContinue reading “The Wisdom of Humility”