Annabel Ascher - Annabel's Odyssey: Dispatches from the Road to Nowhere

Annabel's Odyssey: Dispatches from the Road to Nowhere

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Annabel Ascher

Death and Ego

Thinking about death, ego, and attachment. When thinking of our own mortality, the chief actor is ego. When contemplating the death of loved ones, the chief actor is attachment. Which is connected to ego on a string.

Some Wounds Never Heal: Rape is a Soul-Killer

Some Wounds Never Heal: Rape is a Soul-Killer

I have been thinking about the trauma of sexual abuse in general and rape in particular. I am in my eighth decade. It has been many years since I have suffered THAT KIND of trauma. And I thought it was all worked out. I did talk therapy (useless). Alchemical Hypnotherapy

The Problem with the Autistic Diagnosis

The Problem with the Autistic Diagnosis

The people who set diagnostic criteria should bring back Aspberger’s Syndrome. Here is why: A few days ago a post popped up on Facebook regarding Autistic Spectrum Disorder being a mental disability--in other words, if you are autistic, you are, in most cases, intellectually challenged. The woman who

Estrangement

There is a difference between a stranger and being estranged, though they seem the same outwardly. And share a linguistic root. When you are estranged, you still know how they take their coffee, two creams, no sugar. You know their drink is Rum and Cola, you know how their nose

Smokers

A few days ago I was thinking about my mother, gone now 26 years. And about the times we lived in. About how she died. Which led me to something all of us alive pre-1980 remember well, but that rarely enters current discourse in our society. Tobacco use. Smoking

My Adventure in the Rich World

My Adventure in the Rich World

The Upper East Side is like a little village where nothing much ever happens, the atmosphere is sterile, and most of the human interaction is between the very rich and their servants. It was also the last time I ever spoke to my sister or likely will again in this

Complicated Grief: When You Don't Get to Say Goodbye

Complicated Grief: When You Don't Get to Say Goodbye

We have all seen the way death is often dealt with in movies and literature— the loved ones gathered, the deep conversations, the last words.But that is seldom the case in real life. I have lost bunches of those close to me. And I don’t believe I have

The Life of an Elder Orphan

The Life of an Elder Orphan

What if society also needs a certain number of free agents who are able to focus on something larger than themselves precisely because there are no ties of the human variety and no expectations?

Against the Theory of Static Time

Against the Theory of Static Time

Time is not an illusion, it is the driving force of existence. I also posit that the static “all-time” theory is wrong. It conflates time with space. Due to the simultaneity of time, ALL SPACE always exists--but within the linear unidirectional framework of time. EVERYTHING is happening all

Star Deprivation: How We Lost the Universe and Our Connection to It

Star Deprivation: How We Lost the Universe and Our Connection to It

When I was a small girl it was much easier to see the stars. Not as easy as in the time before light pollution. But the light pollution was not as bad in the 1960s as it became shortly thereafter. If you were able to get even a little way

The Artificial is Breaking the World: The Argument Against Trans-humanism

The Artificial is Breaking the World: The Argument Against Trans-humanism

I recently saw a post on Facebook that asked the following: Trans-Humanism--The Future? Or the World’s Most Dangerous Idea? My response: It is the worst idea in a large field of terrible ideas. A great deal of the suffering in the world has been and is the

Deprivation

What is deprivation? It is a word we see tossed around a lot in the current era. People who are slightly inconvenienced call themselves deprived. Not being able to get a vanilla latte ain’t it. Being deprived of books, or sushi, or freshly ground single origin coffee feels like

Restoring the Commons

Restoring the Commons

A number of years ago, in the nascent years of the 21st century, one heard a great deal in certain circles about the global commons. Then, suddenly, it seemed that particular cause went out of fashion. Why? The Myth of the Tragedy of the Commons In 1968 a scientist named