I’m not often a sucker for personal essays but there is one in this week’s Newsweek called My Turn: Long Hair, Crew Cut—He’s Still My Friend. It’s about a a liberal lady whose friend goes to Iraq and how she handles talking with him. It’s well written and best: it’s short. Conclusion:
Matt will fight a war and I will sit safely with coffee mug in hand trying to figure out how to support him. The best way I think I can do that is not by putting a yellow ribbon on my SUV or waving a flag, but by allowing him to share his thoughts openly. And perhaps, by writing this, I can finally say what I had wanted to say before he left, which is this: Please come back safely. Please remember to watch your back. Help where you can with the skills that you have. Use your humor to protect yourself. Use your social skills to help people. You have friends, so don’t be afraid to use us as a sounding board. We wish you well. I wish you well. And… Matt? Most of all, I wish you peace.
Also in Newsweek are a series of articles on the mind/body health connection. Can soothing the mind sooth the body? Is a “soul” just more neuroscience? What’s the current state of meditation?
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