Five Star Friday's 229th Edition Is Brought to You By Paul Krugman

This week's Five Star Friday is brought to you by a path to healing, a swimming pool, the R-word and an invisible disability, a boy seeing himself reflected in the world, slowing down, and Paul Krugman:


photo credit: Prolineserver

Do some homework to find out what these people really want. I’m not talking about deeply hidden motives; usually the true goal is in the public domain. You just have to look at what the people said before they were trying to sell it to the broad public.

     — Paul Krugman

Happy Friday!

"Through the Forest, But Not Alone" from Alda Sigmundsdóttir:

I know it probably sounds like I'm throwing all this out there and blathering about how I'm all better and got through it, without adequately explaining how. And the thing is, I can't map out anybody's journey for them — we all have to find our own way through the spiritual forest, so to speak. But there is a way. You can trust me on that. If there is a will, there is a way.

"Ham Fish In Hipstamatic" from Loisaida Nest:

Since I've never been able to still my thoughts enough for meditation, swimming is the closest I've been able to get to it. The smell of chlorinated water signals pleasure to my brain — a Pavlovian response. The 50 meters length at Hamilton Fish is a blissfully long stretch to swim without having to turn. Plenty of time to enjoy the sight of the sun ripples in the turquoise blue water and as you turn your head to breathe, the dark green gingko trees that frame the lifeguards in their orange suits under their orange umbrellas. The rhythm of my strokes and the sound of the bubbles of my exhaling breath, gets me to thinking in a slow and focused way.

"Acceptance Gone Wrong: Retardation and Its Profound Loneliness and Isolation" from Free Fringes:

Advocates attempting to remove the hatred from the clinical term "retardation" and eradicate altogether the pejorative "retard" are on the right track. They are launching and perpetuating a much-needed dialogue about how we tend to throw those words about without thinking twice about those who are hurt the most by them.

"Amour" from Girl's Gone Child:

And much like it is on our walks, the room will quiet, the splashing and the screaming and the cups being flung into my face by tiny hands — and all I will hear are those seven little words, softer than a whisper, harder than a squeeze.

"Slow Down or Die" from The Altucher Confidential:

Claudia tells me that yogis measure their lifespans in breaths rather than years so they live long lives. I don't know. Is that true?

But then she uses the turtle as an example. Some turtles have lived over 200 years. That means there could be a turtle now that actually watched Thomas Jefferson have sex with Sally Hemmings. A turtle breath can last for an hour. My breath lasts about three seconds. I should really slow that down.

Please come back and share good writing with us over the coming week to be featured on the next Five Star Friday. If you have read a really good piece on someone else's weblog, submit it by Thursday at midnight CST to have it featured on Five Star Friday.

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Five Star Friday's 228th Edition Is Brought to You By Jack Kerouac

This week's Five Star Friday is brought to you by feeling the hurt for more mindful living, stepping into your light, privilege and prejudice, sexist and racist jokes, queer and feminist pornography, the weight of war, making money at freelance writing, compassion for oneself during times of illness, and Jack Kerouac:

photo credit: Tom Palumbo

Great things are not accomplished by those who yield to trends and fads and popular opinion.

     — Jack Kerouac

Happy Friday!

"When People Want You To Stay in The Shadows" from The Fierce Blog:

I've come to believe that each person has a spotlight waiting for them. There's a light shining down from God, or the universe, or whatever it is that you believe in, and you just need to step into it. It's your light and no one else's. It's the space in which you do what you're meant to do. In which you are the fullest iteration of you. What's great about your light is that it doesn't overlap with others'. There's no competition. To get into my light, I don't have to crowd anyone else out of theirs. Stepping into mine doesn't affect anyone else's ability to step into theirs.

"History" by Jason Avant at DadCentric:

The cold that was slowly killing his fellow Marines saved his life. He lay awake all night, surrounded by his buddies, who offered what comfort they could. Dawn came, and with it warmth. Enough so that the blood holding his jaw to his head thawed, and when it did his jaw fell off and he bled out and died. Killed by the sun. Can you imagine.

"On the Tyranny of Tradition" from Cecily Walker:

Perhaps you've never had to face your biases in person. If that's the case, then you've lived a sheltered and privileged experience. When a person comes to you with pain in their voice and tears in their eyes, it isn't the time to cover your eyes, stick your fingers in your ears, and sing "LA LA LA CAN'T HEAR YOU!".

"What My Kids Have Taught Me About Homophobia" by Cheryl Dumesnil at Lesbian Family:

...my kids have taught me an equally important skill: acknowledge your feelings. That whole sticks-and-stones-may-break-my-bones schtick is a crock. Words hurt. Discriminatory laws hurt. Being the target of someone's hate hurts, even when you know what they're saying about you isn't true.

Ultimately, ignoring that hurt doesn't defend me against homophobia; it defends me against my own feelings. Last time I checked, "ignore feelings" wasn't on the list of best practices for mindful living.

"Reasons You Don't Like a Sexist or Racist Joke According to the Internet Which Knows Everything" from Mom-101:

Over the past few days, reading the flurry of commentary, chatter, and full-on ranting over Seth MacFarlane's performance at the Oscars, and The Onion tweet heard round the world, I have come to several possible conclusions regarding why you probably don't like a sexist or racist or gay-bashing joke. These are all verbatims or paraphrases from actual statements seen around the internets. So… thank you for schooling me internets! I feel so much wiser now. And funnier!

"Lascivious: For the Love of Porn" by Queerie Bradshaw at Vice:

By definition, queer, feminist pornography is the work of activists. Anything that portrays something this far beyond the mainstream has no choice but to be activism. Hairy pussies, big butch women, men with vaginas, women with penises, fat rolls, strap ons, gender play, and all the things that other people fetishize are portrayed in a real way: portrayed by us for us.

We are these people. We are fat, hairy and really fucking gay. We are not a fetish.

I am not a fetish.

"On Getting Paid (And Knowing Your Worth)" by Virginia Sole-Smith at Medium:

...because I actually have managed to earn a real grown-up salary from freelance writing for the best part of a decade, I also want to talk about how you as the freelance writer can take some control in this crazy, uncontrollable industry and get paid for your work. As easy (and right!) as it is to blame the big corporations, you also need to know your rights and your worth. And take responsibility for your income so you can make it rain for your own self.

"Patient Endurance" from West End Girl:

...that ability to cultivate compassion for myself in what I'm going through, and to stop judging myself for being somehow at fault or not doing enough to get well, is allowing me a little more peace while going through this process that has no clear end or result. It's a work in progress, but I think the more I am able to shift my perception in this direction, the less additional suffering I'll have to go through.

Please come back and share good writing with us over the coming week to be featured on the next Five Star Friday. If you have read a really good piece on someone else's weblog, submit it by Thursday at midnight CST to have it featured on Five Star Friday.

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Five Star Friday's 227th Edition Is Brought to You By Toni Morrison

This week's Five Star Friday is brought to you by the rub between publishing and the web, a fight against prejudice, finding healing through telling one's own story, our violent remaking of Jesus, a surprise boxing student, the importance of being seen through the eyes of those who love you, the freeing power of forging your own path, and Toni Morrison:


photo credit: Angela Radulescu

In order to be as free as I possibly can, in my own imagination, I can't take positions that are closed. Everything I've ever done, in the writing world, has been to expand articulation, rather than to close it, to open doors, sometimes, not even closing the book — leaving the endings open for reinterpretation, revisitation, a little ambiguity.

     — Toni Morrison, Essence magazine, February 1998

Happy Friday!

"[Updated] An Open Letter to Weddings Unveiled Magazine" from Anne Almasy:

I hope you will read this and really take it to heart. I hope you will see your decision through the eyes of someone who is gay. I hope you will see it through the eyes of someone who has dear friends and family members who are gay. I hope you will see it through the eyes of history, for surely someday very soon your decision will seem archaic and absurd.

"Fear, Loathing, Desire — And The Self-Destructing Work of Art" by Aaron Miller at Medium:

...independent content providers (the kind who run websites that don't really bind authors in writing or legally acquire rights), will never accrue a critical mass of content by well-known authors whose work is also published by large publishers, because that work will be diligently removed when the time comes.

"When There's Always Another Story" from Elora Nicole:

You see, there’s danger in a single story and this — please hear me — is the problem with the purity culture.

"DJesus Uncrossed: Tarantino, Driscoll and the Violent Remaking of Jesus in America" by David R. Hensen at Patheos:

The truth is, deep down, I suspect we like DJesus the Uncrossed better than Jesus the Crucified. It's the same reason why we like Tarantino films as opposed to actual history.

In the wake of horror, we like revenge.

In the aftermath of the unspeakable, we like scores settled.

"Raging Taurus" from Trudging Through the Fire:

I'm teaching this girl with Down's Syndrome a move I learned from an crazed Vietnam war vet bouncer in Santa Fe, over twenty years ago. How awesome is life?

"On Being Seen" from Claire Bidwell Smith:

I know that my big lesson in life will always be about learning how to see myself, without needing others to help me do it. And now I know that’s something I want to try to teach my girls as well. But for now? While they're little like this? I'm going to keep making sure they know I'm watching, even when they think I'm not.

"The Snare of Perfectionism" from Brave Writer:

My connection to my kids matters the most.

When we are connected, no matter how we’ve arrived at that space, I know we’re okay.

And that feels perfectly fine to me.

Please come back and share good writing with us over the coming week to be featured on the next Five Star Friday. If you have read a really good piece on someone else's weblog, submit it by Thursday at midnight CST to have it featured on Five Star Friday.

And because you are a fan of finding good new writing on the internet:

• Subscribe — Subscribe to this website to keep up with us every week.
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