Life Changes – Claudia Putnam: Writer: Poetry & Prose

Upvalley and Downvalley

Feb 14, 2013

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Where I live now, on Colorado’s Western Slope, towns are strung out along the confluence of two rivers, the Roaring Fork and the Colorado. Those who live “upvalley” live southward along the Roaring Fork, and generally speaking, the richer they are or the richer they want to be, the closer they live to Aspen. Those…

Burning Down the Room

Sep 18, 2012

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Claudia Putnam

in Boulder Fire, Grief, Life Changes, Parenting, PTSD, Trauma, Wildfire

I just came back from visiting my son, now 21. As I think about my next steps in the world—I’ve moved into my third rental space in less than two years—it seems like a good time to post this draft of a blog post I found in my files recently. I’m not sure why it…

Thinning Down the House

Aug 14, 2012

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Claudia Putnam

in Bereavement, Life Changes, Relationships

I’m moving on again. I’ve had to do this a few times in the past couple of years. Like a lot of people, we’re finding that the jobs we want or can get are not necessarily where we were living, or where we wanted to live. (Yay for the efficiencies of capitalism, as people take…

Journal Entry 4/28/12

May 1, 2012

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Claudia Putnam

in Grief, Life Changes, Literary Inspiration, Poetry

God drains what God breathes into us so long between breaths

Dearly Beloved

Jun 13, 2011

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Claudia Putnam

in Bereavement, Death and dying, Grief, Life Changes, Parenting, Relationships

It took 22 years to come to this. I never knew what to do about letting Jacob’s ashes go. But I am taking a creative writing fellowship on the East Coast this fall. My ex-husband is also moving, and our other son is in college on the West Coast. It didn’t seem right to put…

In Progress

May 18, 2011

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Claudia Putnam

in Life Changes, Parenting, Relationships, Writing

Positive discipline, like going for a run, or studying, or writing a first draft—THAT I can do. But negative discipline: NOT eating the chocolate, or having the second martini, or sleeping with the guy on the first date. That’s harder. Then there’s accepting, moving on, whether it’s positive or negative. Integrating things I didn’t want…

Massive

Feb 21, 2011

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Claudia Putnam

in Bereavement, Death and dying, Grief, Life Changes, Relationships, Trauma

At the end of last year I posted about some “night terrors” after I met an older man contemplating his impending death. A high-school classmate responded by telling me of his heart attack a few years back. His comments are included at the end of the blog post; he says he felt an overwhelming sorrow…

PTSD—What It’s Like

Dec 8, 2010

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Claudia Putnam

in Books, Grief, Life Changes, PTSD, Trauma, Wildfire

Ever had stage fright? I don’t mean the good kind. Where you have some butterflies in your stomach and a bit of a metallic taste in your mouth. Maybe that’s slightly unpleasant but it can also help you focus a little better and in the end it seems to come out all right. The audience…

Lucky/Unlucky

Oct 28, 2010

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Claudia Putnam

in Boulder Fire, Economy, Grief, Life Changes, Wildfire

“I can’t complain, but sometimes I still do…” –Joe Walsh When I was a kid, I had picture book called Fortunately. As I recall, the character had, fortunately, been invited to a birthday party. Unfortunately, it was on the other side of the country. Fortunately, he had a plane. Unfortunately, it blew up. Fortunately,…

Category: Life Changes