Bulletproof Blog by Lisa Fliegel

Nursing Home

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Home is not where I live with my husband. Home is not where I raised my kids. Home is the Artist’s loft, the place I always imagined I’d live if I wasn’t living on a small kibbutz in the middle … Read More

Babes in Banned-Land

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My workshop instructor at The William Joiner Center for The Study of War and Social Consequences, asked me to write about “The room I know best.” The room I know best is my car. I’m in it a lot. At a red light, … Read More

Dear Any Town in America

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“Doesn’t it feel great to be right?” My friend Miriam Herschlag said to me, and I felt ashamed. I was going on about some systemic injustice or institutional racism, or just everyday disparagement of my advocacy efforts and she stopped … Read More

Od Lo Avdah TikVateinu

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We used to sing this lines from the Israeli national anthem to tease our friend Tiki — which is short for Tikva which means hope in Hebrew. We have yet to give up hope… is the translation. Those words in the anthem … Read More

Handful of Fog

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The kibbutz library was in a bomb shelter, but I wasn’t afraid of bombs. I was afraid of the harshness of the desert, a shore with no sea. I was afraid of the harshness of the people drenched in angry … Read More

Warp and Woof

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My father Bert (that’s Dr. Bert to you!) Is the Belmont Manor Buddha. Belmont Manor’s lobby reminds you of a country inn, but it is in fact a nursing home. This week we were discussing the upcoming election when he pointed out … Read More

A Bar at the Folies-Bergère

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After ArtSeed at The Marble House Colony my friend, Artist Leslie Fry said to me: “For a brief moment this is how I saw you tonight.” She was referring to this painting: A Bar at the Folies-Bergère painted and exhibited at the Paris Salon in 1882. It was the last major … Read More

Full Service No Gas

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Lisa Fliegel / Slides borrowed from: David Keller, M.D. I was driving to the gym today and thought: “Gee whiz, I wish had time to get some gas.” With a longing gaze I passed East Side Gas, reading the sign posted in red above the … Read More

Absent Muse

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Tonight’s rain pulsing deceptive, a simple erratic rhythm . My window welcomes that absent muse — a soft and insistent baritone-rain saying: “You were wrong , this is no time for sleeping.” Compose, Compose, Compose.

A Time to Write

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I’m goin’ to the MarbleHouse Project to Finish Dat Chaptah The Mission Marble House Project nurtures the imaginative spirit. Through artist residencies, workshops and sustainable agriculture, Marble House Project promotes an innovative atmosphere and exchange of ideas. Inspiration, contemplation and … Read More

Refugee All-Stars

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One of my favorite bands is The Sierra Leone Refugee All-Stars. They sing a song: “Living like a refugee is not easy….” One day in 2004 I was driving with Sarah B. over the Charles River.  We were taking SA to the Dance … Read More

The Hierarchy of Tragedy

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Tragedy is not a competiton; it’s not a suffering olympics where the goal is the gold medal of atrocity. In a recent New York Times article and a subsequent NPR story the journalist Anne Barnard commented that we need to … Read More

All I want for Christmas!

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Lisa Fliegel – Erev, Erev Christmas Trauma exposure & disability Students who experience traumatic events while growing up in poor, turbulent neighborhoods could be considered disabled, a federal judge has ruled in a high-profile case involving the Compton, Calif., schools. … Read More

Burden of Truth/Burden of Proof

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I was with my friend Abrigal Forrester  the other day. We were talking about Trauma and he used the term Practice-based Evidence. I was so excited to hear that phrase for the first time. Too often front-line trauma workers feel burdened, stymied, and barricaded by the … Read More

Annie Hall

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Lisa Fliegel + Woody Allen +  Ben Shahn — In 9th grade I went to see the movie Annie Hall in Newton Center with a big group of friends. It was a sweet little theatre you could walk to from … Read More

Repositioning

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I know. I can’t stop talking about Dan Ephron’s book.  On page 145 he asks, referring to the Oslo Peace Accords: “was it genuinely ending its role over the Palestinians or merely repositioning its occupation?”  Dan also talks about (pg 134) … Read More

The Place Where We Are Right?

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המקום בו אנו צודקים מאת יהודה עמיחי מן המקום שבו אנו צודקים לא יצמחו לעולם .פרחים באביב המקום שבו אנו צודקים הוא קשה ורמוס .כמו חצר אבל ספקות ואהבות עושים את העולם לתחוח .כמו חפרפרת, כמו חריש ולחישה תשמע במקום … Read More

Pokey Little Blog

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During yesterday’s press conference Obama got a tad miffed when reporters seemed to ask him the same question over and over again. In synonymous terms the question was something like: “Do you even have a clue of what’s going on in … Read More