I couldn’t shake the unease I kept feeling, so I interviewed a genocide scholar and found these disturbing trends — Every year for Hanukkah, I place an electric menorah on my front windowsill as a way to celebrate my favorite Jewish holiday — until 2022. For the first time in my life, I debated letting the neighborhood know I am Jewish. Should I let the hate mongers win and give…

I finally understood what my Jewish ancestors lived through in Eastern Europe during the 1930s and 1940s — I first learned about QAnon by accident, around the time of the 2020 Superbowl. Jennifer Lopez and Shakira had put on this awesome halftime show that had me dancing all over my living room. “I haven’t seen a performance like this since the 90s!” …

Hint: it’s not random trips to Paris and champagne at the spa — *This essay has been republished by YourTango.com I turned 41 years old this year, and for the first time, I felt a shift. It wasn’t overt; in fact, it was deeply subversive. Small things, like fewer doors held for me as I walk into department stores. Or the water cooler…

I wrote this list on New Year’s Eve 2020/2021 and realized how my past life advice is soothing amidst today’s difficult times — On New Year’s Eve 2020/2021, after a year of COVID isolation, I wrote in my journal, then posted on Facebook, a list of 10 lessons life and society taught me during 2020. Now, as we grapple with worldwide wars (Ukraine/Russia, Israel/Hamas, Sudan, and more), as well as the rising tides…

I was surprised by my success and thought I’d share how I did it to help other Medium writers — I joined the Paid Medium Partner Program in August 2023, and by October 2023, I hit the coveted $1,000 income goal. To clarify, that’s $1,000 in one month. The previous month, I made almost $300. I took a screenshot of my income earnings since August 2023 so you can see…

As a woman who’s tired of caring what others think, I sure hope so — Something strange happened as I approached my 40th birthday: a discomfort began nagging at my gut. But not that typical anxiety of another year older or OMG death is coming. This was a jitteriness that slowly evolved into full-blown dread as the monumental day drew closer. I’d never felt anything…

How my stint with unemployment, health issues, and house repairs made me rethink how money does buy happiness — In early 2022, my master bathroom’s shower started leaking into the wall. I told myself I’d deal with it soon, but then, I lost my job a few months later. You know, those pesky COVID layoffs. I stopped showering in my master bathroom and started using the hallway bathroom. Whilst…

A poem I wrote several years ago that resonates today, as the world cries I wrote this poem several years ago, but I believe it encompasses so much of what I’ve been feeling lately in light of the events of the world. Perhaps you feel the same way. I published…

A short story about mental health and the power of kindness and connection — NOTE: “Pomegranates” was published in my book, The Condemned: A memoir told through selected early works of short stories, essays, and poetry, which launched on Sept. 9, 2023, and is about coming of age through September 11, and The Great Recession while dealing with antisemitism. © Shari Lopatin, 2019. …