Stephanie Sides

by Stephanie Sides Addictions come in many forms but they have one main function:  to keep us complacent. They funnel strong feelings into self-destructive paths instead of outward, the direction they should go, to constructively address problems in the world that distress us all in varying degrees. I think this happens because we feel we don’t have a right, are … [Read more...] about Addicted to Silence

by Stephanie Sides   He showed it to me later that Saturday afternoon: A three-inch gash angling from left to right down the back of his right calf as I looked at it from behind. It was surrounded by a purple, swollen mass the size of a béisbol, as he put it. But baseball’s not his sport, I thought. His sport is fútbol, the Spanish name for … [Read more...] about Dog Bite

by Stephanie Sides I first started thinking about menopause when my oldest sister, four years my senior, began complaining of severe headaches. I, being unschooled in the matter (which meant I had yet to read any books on it) and still too young, didn’t make the connection with menopause. My sister finally figured it out but only after a long period of debilitating pain, … [Read more...] about Conversations about Menopause

by Stephanie Sides   Solitude is a good thing. You should want it. You should embrace it. You’ll reap the benefits of it – profoundly. That could be the end of this story. But it’s not, because most people I know avoid it at all costs. I define “solitude” as time to yourself to do what you want without external guidance … [Read more...] about What I Wish I’d Known: The Importance of Solitude

by Stephanie Sides A couple of issues ago, EAP published a piece on the importance of security for my parents’ generation – those now considered senior of the senior citizens. That got me thinking about where my parents stood on the issue. Security is something that every generation thinks about and plans for its children. It’s how the species continues. … [Read more...] about The Prison of Security