General Archives - Page 46 of 85 - Ellen Morris Prewitt

Sic ‘Em, Brain

Written by Ellen Morris Prewitt on September 11, 2016. Posted in General. 15 Comments on Sic ‘Em, Brain

The young woman squirmed in her seat, responding to the hypnotist’s questions. She and I were students at North Carolina’s Governor’s School in the 1970s. In the lecture halls of Governor’s School, I first learned of quantum mechanics and the theory of general relativity. I also first experienced hypnotism. Put...

Hard Truths I’ve (Recently) Learned

Written by Ellen Morris Prewitt on August 29, 2016. Posted in General, GRIEF. 8 Comments on Hard Truths I’ve (Recently) Learned

1: You don’t get Fitbit steps by wearing walking shoes. 2: The heat index is real. 3: Toilet paper doesn’t buy itself. 4: The dog likes me best when I’m giving her a treat. 5: When I say “I don’t want to do anything today,” I mean, “I only want to do what I want to do today.” 6: I spend most days not doing what I want. 7: Doing what I want...

Entertaining Angels Unawares

Written by Ellen Morris Prewitt on August 11, 2016. Posted in General, GOD, LOVE. 6 Comments on Entertaining Angels Unawares

Like a water bug on a lake, he zipped past me, twirling around the display case, flailing his skinny arms, talking to himself, entertaining himself at the T-Mobile store. He was my favorite kind of child. A frenetic, voluble young boy of five or six, the type of child who might puzzle his classmates and drive his parents to distraction. A...

What the Hell, Dentists?

Written by Ellen Morris Prewitt on August 3, 2016. Posted in General. 4 Comments on What the Hell, Dentists?

For all of my adult life, I’ve been flossing. Okay, okay. Not when I was in college–who needs to floss when the only thing going in your mouth is cold beer? And not when I was a young lawyer. Man, I was too busy trying to make partner to floss. And not when I was newly divorced—I gave up all reputable pursuits during that period of my life...

How to Fail at the Race Talk

Written by Ellen Morris Prewitt on August 2, 2016. Posted in Featured, General, GOD, HOMELESSNESS, LOVE, Racism to Reconciliation. 4 Comments on How to Fail at the Race Talk

I failed at the conference for racial justice this weekend. I gave racially tinged advice to a perfectly innocent question that had no race element to it. I mistook one African-American woman with glasses and short hair for a different African-American woman with glasses and short hair, because all African-Americans look alike to us white...

You are Not My Conservative Friend

Written by Ellen Morris Prewitt on July 23, 2016. Posted in General, LOVE. 22 Comments on You are Not My Conservative Friend

Two years ago, my husband and I went to Central Europe and heard the stories of those once neighbors—laughing together, eating supper, playing cards—who fell to pieces over “Serb” and “Croat” and “Muslim,” and began killing one another. We all know the stories of Germany where those who were once the piano...

Don’t Tell Me about Your Assault Rifle

Written by Ellen Morris Prewitt on June 15, 2016. Posted in General, GRIEF. 8 Comments on Don’t Tell Me about Your Assault Rifle

I no more want to know you like assault weapons than I want to know what kinky things you do with a porn magazine in your hand. You see, if you’ve moved past guns for self-protection into defending your right to own war weaponry, that’s a fetish. And—I’m not trying to be rude—I simply don’t need to know that about...

Trusting in Life

Written by Ellen Morris Prewitt on May 23, 2016. Posted in General, GOD. No Comments on Trusting in Life

The retreat had not yet begun. I was walking beneath the live oaks, crossing from the dorm room I would share with my cousin and aunt to the building where we would practice restorative yoga for two days. The gulf breeze gently blew, and shadows danced on the St. Augustine lawn. I halted, gazing at the slip of blue sky peeking through the...

Prayer, A Rule of Thumb

Written by Ellen Morris Prewitt on May 9, 2016. Posted in General, GOD, HOMELESSNESS. 2 Comments on Prayer, A Rule of Thumb

A while back, I conducted a workshop where I took my writing mentor Rebecca McClanahan‘s book Write Your Heart Out and translated the types of nonfiction writing into types of prayer. I don’t remember all the parallels (writing from joy, for example, became adoration or praise prayer.) I’ve been thinking about this as I...

What I Love about My Life in Memphis

Written by Ellen Morris Prewitt on May 3, 2016. Posted in General, LOVE. 2 Comments on What I Love about My Life in Memphis

I live in Memphis on an island with wild edges and a dog who loves them as much as I do. I have a wood-burning fireplace in my house. I go to St. Mary’s Episcopal Cathedral where the Dean stands up in the pulpit and preaches the most unsettling, Holy truths, in a caring, loving way. I can walk to the grocery store. I can walk to the coffee...