Archive for Suzette Martinez Standring

Suzette and her three husbands by Suzette Standring

Let’s get something out of the way.  I’m 68 and I have been married three times.  As they say, the third’s a charm. I am not embarrassed, although the wife of my first ex-husband did try.  At my daughter’s wedding, she loudly said, “I want a picture of Suzette and her three husbands!”   Since […]

Meditating with felons by Suzette Standring

When I taught a meditation class at a men’s state prison, one writing prompt was “my favorite room.” One inmate’s memory took our breath away.

Watercolors: What took me so long? (Unfounded fear)

What stops you from taking a watercolor class or anything else for which you’re convinced you are terrible? I once painted a trio of peonies and was told it looked like Mickey Mouse’s head. It took me years to pick up a brush again. But I have!

My mother’s unloved diamond ring

We treasure what loved ones left behind, like a favorite piece of jewelry. Or was it? My mother’s engagement ring has quite a story, and now at age 67, I understand why she never wore it. She married my dad in 1950, and later in the 1980’s, after my mother’s death, the sparkly European-cut diamond […]

Mental Health: Turn Off TV News, Instead Read it

Relentless negativity sends me into fetal-position sadness and defeat. How about you? Our “new normal” is abnormal. For positive mental health, turn off TV news. Instead, read the news. It gives you more control of what you’re taking in, according to Dr. Daniela Gitlin, author of Practice, Practice, Practice: This Psychiatrist’s Life.   In her […]