scars | Lise1

Searching for "The Roses Man"

I met “The Roses Man” when I was 5 or 6 years old, attending Franklin Elementary School in East Orange, New Jersey. I was freshly...

How the Witch Became a Model

When I was five, my heaven was a tiny dusty theater at Upsala College in East Orange, New Jersey. My father taught music history there....

The Problem with "Women Talking"

Sarah Polley’s Women Talking is a beautiful ensemble piece, in which women gather to discuss how to handle a violent crisis. The...

Your Accidental Activist

Somehow, I have become an activist. This was never my intent. All I ever planned was to write my memoir. I did not intend to be a public...

Happy To Be “Too Sensitive”

My mother used to tell me, “You're too sensitive.” It was a repeated refrain, deployed when I cried too long or hurt too much. She said...

A Dose of Compassion, Doctor's Orders

I have been a patient and a doctor, on both sides of the bed. I have sat with injured people, processing their trauma. I have also been...

Hey Hollywood – Scars Don’t Make You Evil

At the end of a weary work week, I sprawled on the couch ready to watch a movie. I wanted to be entertained by someone else’s problems...

A Tough Fall

(Part 5 in the series Choosing More Surgery) I spoke to a psychic two weeks before my recent operations. The psychic is a friend, an...

Somewhere Over My Rainbow(s)

(Part 4 in the series Choosing More Surgery) I have always loved “Somewhere Over the Rainbow.” I identify with Dorothy in The Wizard of...

Why Me? Why Not Me?

(This is Part 3 in the series "Choosing More Surgery." See here for Part 1 and here for Part 2) “How are you doing today?” asked my...

Healing Through Pain

by Samuel Moore-Sobel, guest blogger (I am honored to host Samuel Moore-Sobel, as guest writer for this blog. You can learn more about...

5 Things to Say to a Scarred Person (and 1 Thing Not to Say)

A year ago, I sat eating lunch with my new friend, Betsy. We met when our kids performed in high school theater together. We both...