I’m Marie Well, as in healthy well. At least, that’s my aim—to get well and make you well. We all have woes, from breakups to cancer to hoarder houses. I’m here to fix those woes—with tips mixed with my own tales.
Why read me? I’ve got a track record of fixin’ stuff. I’ve cured myself of anxiety. For a decade, I had anxiety attacks that struck almost daily. When not stricken, I’d write Voice articles, mostly on how to combat stress.
And then my world changed. One week went by with no attacks. A month. A year. Two years. And counting.
Now, I want to skyrocket our health—and bolster our creativity. After all, nothing soothes better than strokes of paint or tones of music or reps in a gym.
So, let’s get fit, creative, and well with Marie Well.
Did you ever get denied an empty seat taken by a “ghost”? Or open doors for strangers who soak you with love or sock you with anger? Whatever the woe, tame that temper. Take scenario one—love: As I walked past a storefront, a middle-aged woman appeared in the parking lot. Her shoulders slouched. Her strides… Read more »
Want the secret to getting an A? Use simple language sprinkled with big-words. That’s what the dean I knew did on her ascent to deanship. Her papers sounded grade-two jammed with jargon. That way, she didn’t pickle herself as either too stuffy or too stupid. To gather jargon for your essays, use critical theory—any theory. … Read more »
Grab a grand vocab—and romance it. I made a file of delightful words I named “Wordlist.” But crazy spellcheck named it “Wordlust.” Perfect, I thought—a play on love for words. My vocabulary shriveled. So, I stared down a dictionary nightly. I learned that words have multiple meanings that don’t mix or make sense. And whenever… Read more »
Do you want to control your emotions? To suck back tears and never moan? To stop scuffs that break out while ordering McDonald’s double-doubles? Well, I’d love to seem smooth and suave—like Audrey Hepburn. So, I Googled royal etiquette: cross legs at the ankles, fold hands on lap, lift chin parallel to the floor, and… Read more »
Do you get stuck when studying? Well, don’t stop seeking solutions. An answer will appear as fast as a semi-truck driver sneaks shipped bags-of-oats for his pantry. Here are some tips for busting creative blocks, as partly gleaned from Beth Brown’s blurb in Noah Scalin’s book Unstuck: 52 Ways to Get and Keep Your Creativity… Read more »
I taught English to Japanese. The Japanese claim the longest lifespans—and best diets. They eat Miso soup, made of fermented beans, that is brimming with probiotics. The Japanese hardly blimp out either—a single plate of Canadian grub feeds a Japanese family-of-four. But McDonalds sprouted in Japan, luring Japanese youth to fatty diets. Sushi and plants… Read more »
I loathe shopping. I make celebrity dresses look like Rhino underpants. But guess what? I still look better in a t-shirt than Lady Gaga in her on-stage Victoria-Secret John-Lennon lookyes, John Lennon in a negligée. Recently, I ducked into a high-end store to scout business attire. A purple dress caught my eye, although I haven’t… Read more »
Did your creativity ever get stuck? Mine did for decades. Yet, during junior high, I thrived on creativity. My rundown school held a class-act art program. So, I crafted life-sized Sesame Street puppets, dyed Garfield pillows, and baked clay Barbie’s. I made a solar system with planets and moons crafted from Styrofoam strung together in… Read more »
As an undergrad, I wrote a semester-long paper. In that paper, I cited many graduate-level books. I put citations on cue cards, heaped inside a box. When my professor saw my cue cards, she grinned, pleased, and said, “You cherry pick.” Cherries taste sweet, so I smiled back. But she sugar-coated her rotten cherries. She… Read more »
I dread analyzing classics. Where do I begin? One of our own Voice writers gave clues: notice the writing tricks that tickle you and the transitions that flow. So, I had a starting point. Yet I stubbornly wanted to study the classics from the scriptwriting point-of-view: scenes, characters, and, if not starring Adam Sandler, themes…. Read more »