The Unclad Soul

Showtime’s series, “Billions,” is a smart, wild journey in the world of finance, legal tightwires, investor manipulation, shady deals dressed in big money, deceit, and a style of living only a few ever really experience. Half the time I have no idea what they are talking about. The financial sophistication and the language of the SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission), the justice department, the FBI, and the office of the US attorney in New York City is baffling. But, the storylines, the characters, and so much of the dialogue is so captivating and even instructive that I enjoy it. Anyone in business or law would find this series illuminating. Mostly, though, the series is a shocking look at how a lot of life goes on in our country. Particularly how we operate in our careers, our jobs, and our relationships both in and out of work. Even though this is a fictional series, I think it hits close to home for many viewers. Not that we know the life of high finance and a ...

At the age of 66, novelist and poet May Sarton, was diagnosed with breast cancer, went through a mastectomy, ended a long time relationship, and suffered from depression. Out of that she wrote one of her best books, Recovering: A Journal . She was obviously hurt and angry about all that had happened to her. But she was determined to understand what it meant and how she should respond. She struggled through every raw emotion in an attempt to remain human. “We cannot withdraw love without damaging ourselves,” she wrote. “Rage,” she continued, “is the deprived infant in me but there is also a compassionate mother in me and she will come back with her healing powers in time.”  It is a message of hope for the country. There is so much cold anger today; so much unacknowledged hurt and pain. You see it everywhere. You feel it from people in traffic, at store counters, and certainly on social media platforms, especially Twitter and Facebook. Some things there are vicious a...