The Passing Storm

by Christine Nolfi

“Qui n’avance pas, recule.” A French proverb, one of Connor’s favorites. Who does not move forward, recedes. The proverb meant that life offers us the choice to evolve and accept the changes that inevitably come. Resist those changes, and we devolve into something less—a mere shadow of our true potential.

You have more defenses than a porcupine.”

Hope and expectation were absent from her life. Did the loss of those virtuous emotions mean she was growing old? Not in a measurable, physical way, but on a deeper level? There was no simple way to regain the verve for life.

We breathe life into our memories by celebrating those loved ones in conversation.

The hard-edged and successful Everett Marks viewed psychology as a pseudoscience for the simpleminded.

We are each many people in a lifetime. We slip through versions of ourselves, no more staying in place than a fast-moving river.

the problem with anger. After it hoisted your common sense out the window, it made you behave badly.

Sexual longing is a form of muscle memory.

“We’re all children of light and darkness,” she said. “It’s up to us to choose which side wins out.”

hard times. They either tear you up, or compel you to find a deeper meaning.”