Illustration from "The Abuser-Victim Dyad: Central to Understanding Our Times" Licensed Adobe Stock image by Yuri

Hi all,

I've never asked for contributions to support my writing - but would welcome any donation you might offer. This year, I wrote 12 longform essays for East Wind eZine and 19 essays for Psychology Today, including a 4 part series on Trauma and Healing, and a well-received lecture on abusive power. All of that is available in my archive of past newsletters. You can donate via my compassion non-profit SF Love Dojo: https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/sflovedojo. The last East Wind essay I wrote on the far-right playbook took about 60 hours of research and writing, and I hope it's a resource for what we're facing. Each of my essays takes 3-60 hours to produce, generally. I pay for the images I license as well. I have written without much compensation for Psychology Today, CAAM, and East Wind since 2006, and I've put a lot of heart, time and my own resources into publishing books. It's all good, I didn't do any of it for money, and I know you all do a lot that you don't get paid for as well. But your "tip" would go a long way, and I think you know by now that I do my best to support the community in other ways. So I hope you make me part of your circle of giving as well. Donations would be tax-deductible, and I'll send you an acknowledgment via e-mail for your records.

My last 2 essays for Psychology Today for 2023:

The Abuser-Victim Dyad: Central to Understanding Our Times on December 14, 2023
Personal Perspective: The Israel-Gaza-Hamas conflict has inflamed tensions around the world because it goes to the heart of our humanity.

“American Fiction” Tilts at Racism, Being, and Belonging on December 24, 2023
Personal Perspective: The film "American Fiction" lets us reflect on the psychologies of racism, the sensibilities of the creative industries, and making a better world.

Questioning the price of fitting in - versus true belonging

I was in attendance at this event - and asked a question related to Asian American belonging and the crisis in Israel and Gaza, because Viet Thanh Nguyen got blowback for his outspoken stance, and I wondered how questions of imperiled belonging were landing on him. My question is at the 50 minute point. 

Viet Thanh Nguyen
City Arts & Lectures

Viet Thanh Nguyen's debut novel, The Sympathizer, earned him the 2016 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. Now he’s written A Man of Two Faces. It’s a memoir about his family, as well as larger stories of refugeehood, colonization, and ideas about Viet Nam and America. On November 9, 2023, Nguyen came to The Sydney Goldstein Theater in San Francisco to talk to Shereen Marisol Meraji to talk about the new book - why he chooses to call himself a refugee, not an immigrant - and his conflicted feelings about his hometown, San Jose, California.

Listen on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/city-arts-lectures/id1436346407?i=1000638910279

And finally, do remember to get your tickets for Kristina Wong's Pulitzer Prize finalist one-woman play at ACT-SF in March-May of 2024! 

Kristina Wong, Sweatshop Overlord!

Happy New Year!

Warmly,

Ravi