Diana Raab

1 month ago | goodmenproject.com | Diana Raab

Recently I taught a workshop called “The Writer’s Notebook” at The Hugo House in Seattle that was geared toward published and emerging writers. As I entered the building, I was struck by the idea of there being “a house” just for writers, and thought about how great it would be if every city had one. Seattle was just named by Unesco as The City of Literature, joining 28 other cities around the world with this designation, including Edinburgh, Dublin, Krakow, and many others.

1 month ago | sixtyandme.com | Diana Raab

I am the mother of three adult children and six grandchildren. The nurturing part of me wants to protect my family from all evil, wrongdoing, and unsavory individuals. I want them to grow up in a peaceful world where all men and women are created equal, where music brings us together, and where everyone has a chance to self-actualize. This may be idealistic, but that’s the way I feel. My dreams for my grandkids are as lofty as they were for the three beautiful children I brought into the world.

1 month ago | goodmenproject.com | Diana Raab

Summer is a good time to reflect on what would bring us joy in life and make us happy. When thinking about happiness, we can consider using the word bliss, which takes happiness one step further. Each generation has its set of timely words. Hippies in the 1960s used terms such as “far out,” which meant that something was wonderful or illuminating.

1 month ago | goodmenproject.com | Diana Raab

Memory is fallible. Memory is fragile. Memory ends at the present moment. It is everything you have lived, experienced, seen, and felt up until this instant. Everyone holds their own set of memories. Sometimes it might feel unnecessary to stick to the exact or literal truth of what happened, as long as the message or the meaning of the experience is portrayed. Fiction writers must master the art of creating a vivid picture, but the challenge for memoirists is to determine how and what to remember.

2 months ago | goodmenproject.com | Diana Raab

Many of us know that Carl Jung formulated the idea of the “shadow,” the part of us hidden from immediate awareness. Most often, the shadow focuses on the dark side of our personality, but it can also be a part of ourselves that society views as unacceptable. As a result, we are programmed to “not go there.” Thus, the shadow is often a part of ourselves that lies unexposed, as we try to protect our image in the world.