Motif

Author: Cathren Housley

  • MEDICAL OR RECREATIONAL?

    MEDICAL OR RECREATIONAL?

    Medical marijuana was legalized in Rhode Island in January 2006, and by May 2022 even recreational sales became legal through state-licensed dispensaries and authorized retailers. Yet it still isn’t safe for medical users to come out of the closet. When it comes to both work regulations and social perception, patients who use cannabis as carefully as prescription medication are often still seen as, and treated like, stoners and street drug users. 

    Public opinion among hardliners has been slow to change because there is very little written on the medical use of marijuana. Research on the potential dangers of excessive recreational use have gotten much recent press, but little news gets out about scientific research that Harvard Medical School and affiliated institutions have launched to study the endocannabinoid system and therapeutic applications of cannabis. Official studies have been limited due to the classification of marijuana as a schedule one drug, so most of what the public knows stems from the observed behavior of recreational users.

    When state legalization was rolled out, the main governmental goal was to raise cash from taxes and revenue surcharges; the concern of every dispensary was to increase their customer base. Very little thought was given to educating the public on cannabis products, which probably explains the sudden rash of teenagers overdosing on edibles. 

    Cannabis may have become a far more acceptable part of our culture, but the medical applications are no better understood by the general public than they were twenty years ago.

    Licensed patients need to hide that fact for legal reasons when applying to any federal job, and being honest will push job applicants to the bottom of any hiring list due to the perception that they are spacy and less responsible.  

    I had to explain the validity of medical marijuana to my own sister, who is an alcoholic and has been a member of AA for over 50 years. In her opinion, medical users are no different than street drug users. She believes that anyone who says they are using pot on a purely medical level is just kidding themselves, and they are addicts, the same as anyone else who habitually uses drugs. But there are some very important differences, and if you are wondering whether your own use of marijuana is casual or bordering on addiction, you may want to take note.

    • Medical users don’t walk around stoned. The goal for a medical patient is to treat symptoms in order to stay functional, not to get high. They very seldom increase dosage; in fact, patients who once randomly self-medicated with street-sourced supplies found that they were able to drastically decrease the amount they used once they understood how the various compounds in cannabis worked.

    But the whole point of recreational drugs, both chemical and herbal, is to get high. Because their systems develop tolerances, addicts need to continually increase the amount of drugs that they use to get the same high. This is true for recreational marijuana as well. To get high over and over, you are either going to have to increase the amount that you use or wait for longer periods of time in between uses, so that your tolerance is lower. 

    • Every drug addict becomes a professional liar, keeping their habit secret from everyone except for their dealers and fellow users. That secret is one of the most damaging aspects of drug addiction. There are no secrets in the medical marijuana program. You don’t need to lie to your doctors, and you shouldn’t need to lie to your boss. If you’re smoking so much pot that you keep the amount a secret, then even if you’re medical, you’re smoking too much.

    • Aside from the fact that keeping drug use secret is toxic and isolating on a social and personal level, even casual substance use can be deadly when it comes to interactions with other drugs. Medical patients who are open with all of their doctors can be protected from interactions with prescription medications. Cannabis may be an herb, but it is processed by the same liver enzymes as prescription drugs, and it can dangerously increase or reduce the effectiveness of over 500 medications. 

    • A medical marijuana patient does not have to get drugs from illegal sources without having any idea what they really contain. Part of the hazard of unlicensed drugs is that they often contain dangerous additives. Medical marijuana is sold at regulated dispensaries, and every product sold includes detailed ingredient information and production dates. Cannabis contains a complex mix of active compounds, each with a different application, and these are all listed so that patients can target specific conditions.

    There are still those who see marijuana as a gateway drug and a dangerous addictive substance. Then, there are those who see marijuana as the great panacea to everything that ails mankind. The truth lies somewhere in between, but one thing remains clear – marijuana is a drug with powerful potential. It can either benefit us, or just get in our way. The choice is yours, so make it an educated one.

    A good online source for evidence-based articles is Harvard Health’s dedicated topic page, health.harvard.edu/topics/marijuana-cbd/all

  • American Horror Story

    American Horror Story

    Graphic by Eric Barao

    When the US Congress allowed the Affordable Care Act subsidies to expire on Dec. 31, 2025, they created a health insurance crisis that could have inspired a plot line for “American Horror Story.” Overnight, millions of Americans saw their premiums expand and rise like mushroom clouds from a nuclear explosion. In an article posted January 1, 2026, Peter Welch, Democratic senator from Vermont, told NPR about one of his own constituents: “Their premium is going to go from $900 a month to $3,200 a month.”

    This debacle is just the most recent gasp of a wounded healthcare system that sucks up over a third of our yearly health expenditures in administrative costs. Gaining access to medical care means running an obstacle course where the rules can change at any time.

    When we reach age 65, we are eligible for Medicare, a government-issued insurance intended to provide a lower-cost, comprehensive alternative to individual market plans. But there are glitches in the guidelines that can turn Medicare into a nightmare for low-income Americans.

    In 2014, at age 61, “Mandy” qualified for insurance under the ACA. It was a wondrous gift. She hadn’t been able to afford health insurance as a freelancer for over 25 years. But on her 65th birthday, she received an unwelcome surprise. Her ACA insurance had been canceled and she had been automatically enrolled in Medicare. There were complex decisions to be made and lifetime penalties to be feared. She went from having free healthcare to being forced into a monthly premium accompanied by additional co-pays for service. It would be a full year before she could retire and have premiums deducted from Social Security, so after paying her premiums Mandy couldn’t even afford to visit her doctors.

    She had hoped that her Social Security income would provide some relief, but after Medicare deductions, her monthly check came to only $900. As her assets dwindled, her medical needs increased. Desperate, Mandy made an appointment with Rhode Island DHS to see if she could qualify for Medicaid assistance. Here she received shock #2. 

    Before age 65, in order to qualify for ACA assistance all the government looked at was her income. If it was below the national poverty level, they paid for her healthcare. But once she turned 65, the government changed the rules. It no longer mattered how little income she had. If she had savings of over $4,000, Medicare wouldn’t give her squat. 

    Rhode Island is lucky – in most states, the limit is $2,000. Take a moment to consider how long you could live on $2,000 and you will realize that, in essence, the government is saying, “Screw You,” to low-income residents who manage to cache anything at all for retirement. But the “screw you” doesn’t end there. While 68% to 89% of doctors may be enrolled in Medicaid, very few actively treat patients. If you are uninsured or if Medicaid is the only insurance you have, these organizations can help:  https://www.providencechc.org/ and https://www.rifreeclinic.org/.

    Mandy made the best of Medicare by finding an advantage plan with a private company for $0, with premiums and perks that regular Medicare didn’t offer. She could get rides to the doctor if she didn’t have a car. They gave her an allowance for over-the-counter medications. When she had surgery, the plan delivered two weeks of frozen meals to her home. Her co-pays were lower and her primary care doctor was free. For the first time in many years, she felt a sense of security.

    But in 2026, the advantage plan that had provided her with so many extras disappeared. When she finally found a new company with a plan that worked for her, there was a major problem: Her primary care doctor, whom she had been with for nearly 12 years, was not in their network. 

    This problem is not unheard of, but in the state of RI there is a rift between two healthcare organizations, which complicates our network issues even further. On July 1, 2025, every Brown University Health hospital, including Rhode Island Hospital, Miriam Hospital, Hasbro Children’s Hospital, and Newport Hospital, became out-of-network for most United Healthcare’s Medicare Advantage plans. If Mandy wanted to keep her primary care doctor she’d be shut out of every hospital and clinic she’d been going to for the last 30 years. The only alternative was an advantage plan in Brown’s network that cost more and gave her less coverage. This was not a choice she should have been forced to make.

    Insurance shouldn’t be as painful as the health issues it is meant to cover.

    It’s a medically known fact that stress is a major contributing factor for disease, addiction, and early death. Considering the degree of trauma and anxiety that this insurance uncertainty generates, one has to ask: Is the goal of our current healthcare system to cure us…or to keep us coming back? 

    For help with insurance:

    healthsourceri.com

    shiphelp.org/ships/rhode-island

    retirementmadeez.com

  • Accountable Resolutions

    Accountable Resolutions

    New Year’s resolutions tend to be short-lived. We usually make them after weeks of holiday binging, comforting ourselves with the thought that the damage can be undone through will power alone. So what if we’ve made the same resolutions two years in a row? Third time’s the charm!

    Whose bright idea was this?

    Surprisingly, we have the ancient Babylonians to thank. The first resolution was made nearly 4,000 years ago during the celebration of Spring Equinox, when a Babylonian king publicly vowed to be a better ruler. This open declaration of accountability laid the groundwork for the practice we are all familiar with today. It wasn’t until 45 BC that the Romans cemented January 1st as the beginning of the new year and added some practical elements for good measure, making it a custom to clean their homes, pay off debts, and return borrowed items.

    These days our goals tend toward self-improvement. In 2024, the top resolutions were to exercise more, lose weight, make more money, and stop smoking, i.e. quit bad habits. All great ideas in theory – if only we could see them through. According to recent studies, only 9% of us do. 23% of people abandon their diets, gym memberships, and nicotine gum during the first week. Around 64% have given up by the end of the first month and the initial enthusiasm of the remaining hold-outs dribbles off by spring like the last of winter’s icicles.

    I think that the ancient Babylonians had a better idea. What if we all just vowed, like the king, to be better people? What if we stood up like they do at AA meetings and admitted the truth? “Hi, my name is Larry. I make this same resolution every year but I just can’t get my shit together!”

    The way that we go about it now, making a resolution is just us pretending that we have control when we don’t. It’s a game to trick ourselves into thinking that something has changed, when it hasn’t. We say the words, but we don’t make ourselves accountable; and without accountability, no change is possible.

    Unfortunately, we live in times where accountability is optional and integrity can put us in the line of fire. The one sure thing we all know is that the bills keep coming. There are more reasons to rely on those crutches that keep us going than there are reasons to quit, slow down, and fall behind.

    Here’s a theory with no scientific backing whatsoever: We become dependent on substances because we think we can trust them. They work every time. They don’t criticize or judge us. They don’t care what we look like. They just want us to keep coming back.

    You sure can’t say the same for people. 

    There really is a certain logic to this misplaced trust, but there’s also an inherent flaw: A bottle of Jack can’t help you move your air conditioner. Your substance of choice won’t feed your cat when you’re out of town or make chicken soup when you’re sick. It doesn’t really give a crap about you. And you never think that stuff like that matters… until it does.

    Last week, I was late for a doctor’s appointment. When I opened my back door, a man was standing there. He was a Jehovah’s Witness, the bane of every unwary door opener’s life. Grateful for an excuse to escape, I told him I was on my way out, took his literature, and thanked him. He went to his car. I went to mine.

    But when I turned the key, there was nothing but a clicking noise. The damn thing wouldn’t start. I pulled out my phone to call an Uber. The battery was dead. I began to panic – I was facing a $50 fine for a last-minute cancellation, and a two-month wait for another appointment.

    Then I did something that our parents warned us never to do. I got out, walked over to the Jehovah Witness’s car and asked that total stranger for a ride. There were five other people crammed in with him and there wasn’t really room, but they cheerfully scrunched together and made a place for me. And despite their fearful reputation, they made no attempt to shove their beliefs down my throat or convert me. They just drove me the five miles to my appointment, and wished me a pleasant day.

    The point to this story? It’s simply this – everything that we have come to trust and depend on in our life works… until it doesn’t. In this case, it was my car that didn’t start. In the case of those bad habits you keep meaning to quit, it’s your body, your marriage, or your job that are going to eventually break down. 

    So this New Year’s, stop playing games and ditch the resolutions. Just be accountable. You know what you need to do. And if you can’t fix those problems on your own, have a little faith in people. Some of them really do want to help.

  • Ode to the Libraries: An experience money can’t buy

    Ode to the Libraries: An experience money can’t buy

    I recently came across an article published in Forbes magazine in 2018, in which author Panos Mourdoukoutas declared that if Amazon replaced the public library it would save the taxpayers a huge amount of money. He went on to suggest that technology and Starbucks had surpassed what libraries were able to offer at this point.

    I would like to argue that Mr. Mourdoukoutas’s vision of the future was wearing serious horse blinders; Libraries are more than a place to check out a book and read. They have evolved into community centers that provide a myriad of educational and social opportunities. They are also among the last free government funded services in America that are truly worth the taxpayer’s money.

    Here are just a few of the things the libraries have to offer:

    • There are real human beings in the library. They are some of the greatest people you’ll ever meet and they genuinely like to help people. When I was a little girl, the library was my sanctuary. It was a place that I could go when home felt scary or dangerous. It seemed like the librarian was the only person in the world who gave a damn about me. I’ve met a lot of people who feel that way.

    • If a library doesn’t have the book that you want, they will put out a search to every other public library in the United States to find your book for you. They find it, you get it, with no hidden fees.

    • Many libraries also have a seed library where people can get seeds to plant their own gardens at home. At the same library, you can take out a book to learn how to grow those plants like a pro.

    • Don’t have a computer or Wi-Fi at home? Come to the library. They have both. And if you have a computer or device at home but don’t know how to use it, sign up for a tech course for one-on-one help. Does Starbucks do that?

    • Programming varies branch-to-branch, so take a look at your local library’s website to see what they have going on. In a two-site search, I found yoga classes, air fryer workshops, charity sewing, farmers markets, and book bingo. If you want a zoology lecture with live reptiles, or if you’ve always wanted to climb on a fire truck, your local library may very likely invite iguanas and rescue vehicles for a visit soon. Libraries give away free school supplies and books. Providence libraries currently have free meal services, and some were even able to give away free water filters last year to qualified community members. 

    • Libraries are great supporters of the arts. They host visiting artists and musicians to discuss their work and facilitate creative workshops. If you’ve always wanted to try your hand at 3D printing, nearly every library in the state has a printer and will show you how to program your own designs. You can find painting classes, writer’s groups, and digital music streaming. Ask for discounted passes to museums and watch for outdoor summer concert series and indoor folk and jazz. 

    • Safety is a huge concern to all parents today, so know this – your children are safe at the library. The children’s section is watched over by a youth services specialist who makes certain that no adults enter the area unless they have children with them. If you are a new mother who is going a little bit nuts at home, the library can be a sanctuary. There are play areas for children that carry everything from building blocks to board games. You might find a puppet stage or a makers space that provides free craft materials for children to experiment and build with. You might rediscover your own inner child by playing along with your kids. Do your older children need help with homework? Libraries work in partnership with local colleges to provide tutoring for struggling students. And if you find yourself needing a quiet place to work, Rochambeau library in Providence has study pods that you can sign up for if you crave a veritable cone of silence.

    Mr. Mourdoukoutas saw the libraries as mere books lenders and video dispensers, but he was living in a pre-pandemic world. When COVID struck, the libraries were the very first to pivot their programs to serve virtual and housebound citizens. They provided grab-and-go bags with full-sized art materials. They gave out free COVID tests and began in-person outdoor workshops for housebound youth, armed only with hand sanitizer, surgical masks and paper mâché.

    So – if you want a good online price for just about any product, or any book, Amazon really is a great place to look. I go there all the time. But can technology ever replace the libraries?

    No, Mr. Mourdoukoutas, it cannot. And it never will.

  • THE POWER OF DANCING: One woman’s motivation to turn movement into medicine

    THE POWER OF DANCING: One woman’s motivation to turn movement into medicine

    Julie Adams Strandberg did not set out to be a dancer. She’d taken dance classes when she was younger, but it was her sister Carolyn Adams who took the first leap into dancing with the Paul Taylor Dance Company from 1965-1982. The sisters would later become life-long collaborators, but when Julie entered Cornell University in 1960, she had other aspirations. “I wanted to be a doctor,” Julie said. “But dance kept chasing me.”

    After graduation in 1964 with a BA in French Literature, Julie married Josiah Strandberg, an ensign in the US Navy. In 1966 they moved to a British navy base on Bahrain Island in the Persian Gulf. Here, she found herself giving dance lessons to the children of British and American families.

    In 1967 Julie moved to RI when her husband entered Brown University for his PhD in philosophy. In 1969 she was invited to teach dance in the women’s PE department at Pembroke, Brown’s women’s college. It was then that she had an epiphany: since dance kept chasing her, maybe she should stop running. She recognized that she had been drawn to medicine as a way to heal and that dance and mentoring others were her own ways of achieving that goal. The dance programs she developed have been nothing less than groundbreaking. For more than a decade, Strandberg was the only dance instructor at Brown University, but under her leadership, dance expanded to become an academic curriculum within the Department of Theatre Arts and Performance Studies.

    Strandberg’s teaching philosophy grew, in part, from her recognition of American concert dance as a uniquely home-grown American art form along with jazz. Since the birth of the nation, dancers in the USA from diverse cultures have integrated their styles and stories, merging ideas and crossing racial lines. American choreographers created dances that reflected the unique, inherent multiculturalism of the USA, but making these forms understandable and accessible was a far more difficult task. To that end, in 1998 she and her sister created Repertory Etudes, short dances based on signature works by American choreographers. In 2011 they established Dancing Legacy as the umbrella organization to support their community engagement programs, research, educational projects, and the Repertory Etudes Collection.

    In 2012, Julie and fellow dancer Rachel Balaban co-founded Artists and Scientists as Partners as an initiative to utilize the art of dance in helping those with neurological disorders, most notably Autism Spectrum Disorders and Parkinson’s Disease (PD). It was a move that brought Arts and Medicine together in a significant way. In the ASaP courses, students had site placements with organizations for these two neurological disorders. Students interested in PD interned with DAPpers (Dance for All People). This intergenerational dance class, directed by Balaban, was specifically designed for people with PD and other movement challenges. Participants from DAPpers also had access to the RepEtudes which provided them with professional dance experiences and a direct connection to the legacy of American dance.

    Julie explains: “The RepEtude allows students, dancers, and the general public to have access to modern dance masterpieces for learning, performing, and viewing. As with the informed study of details in a painting or a musical motif, the larger work and the choreographer are brought to light in the RepEtude through study, reflection, and performance.”

    Strandberg’s efforts have created a self-perpetuating community that continues to grow: “We now have a multigenerational performing company that includes Dancing Legacy Ensemble, DAPpers Rep – Dancing Legacy, young students from Fusionworks Dance Center, and dancers from Brown University all dancing together.”

    During Julie’s 60-year career in the dance field, she developed and designed materials and programs to provide broad access for all people to the art form of dance. Her audience has grown to include pre-professional and professional dancers, students and youth in grades K-university, and the aging. She provides healing and outlets for those with neurodiverse challenges – including people with Parkinson’s disease, those on the autism spectrum, and others with cognitive and physical challenges.

    At 83, retirement has not slowed Strandberg’s drive. She continues to teach and choreograph. In addition, she is currently collaborating with The Hattie Ide Chaffee Home in East Providence, RI to establish an Arts Academy within the Home that will create a place where elderhood is valued, supported, and celebrated – and where joy and quality of life are central to its daily life. (See more about their latest project on page 23.)

    Julie Adams Strandberg may not have become a doctor – but she has become a healer, a mentor, and an enlightened nurturer. Through dance, she has embraced every purpose that drew her to medicine in the first place.

  • Primary Care Physicians

    Primary Care Physicians

    RI is in a state of emergency when it comes to primary care. Our state scores high on the national average for health insurance – only 2.2% of the people in Rhode Island are still without health insurance – yet an estimated 200,000 to 400,000 adults, or between a quarter and half of the adult population, lack access to primary care.

    One of the difficulties is that it is becoming increasingly difficult to find a PCP. Once you finally track one down, you might find yourself waiting weeks or months before you can get an appointment. Experienced PCPs are leaving the state in droves and it is rare for recent medical school grads to choose RI as their state of practice.

    Something’s happening here. What it is ain’t exactly clear, but here are a few clues:

    The Pay Ain’t Great

    • PCPs in RI are paid less than their colleagues over the border. Estimates vary, but on average a doctor can see a salary bump of at least 50K just by crossing the border. 

    • Primary care physicians receive lower reimbursement rates than most specialists.

    • As Dr. Michael Wagner, president and CEO of Care New England, pointed out in a recent interview on WPRI, that we have a very high percentage of Medicaid patients in Rhode Island, a third of the population, but a very low reimbursement rate for their care. The number of Medicaid patients has risen over the last 5 years, which puts a PCP in a difficult position. They don’t want to turn a patient away because the state reimburses them so little, but if too many of their patients are on Medicaid, they can’t support their practice.

    • A PCP who provides outpatient medical care in a hospital-owned clinic is reimbursed at a much higher rate just because it’s owned by a hospital and for no other reason. This is called site-based reimbursement. It is a regulation determined by federal legislation or by hospital lobbyists and it discourages PCPs from practicing outside of hospital-owned clinics.  

    More Computers, Less Medicine

    • The so-called value-based reimbursement system favored by RI has been criticized as contributing to undervaluation of primary care services. The value-based system is intended to improve the quality and outcomes of care, but for PCPs it has become a numbers game. Far too much emphasis is placed on a very few numbers that are measurable, such as hemoglobin A1c for diabetes. As a result, PCPs have been turned from doctors into data-gathering and entering machines, using computer software that is awkward and difficult to use. In fact, outsourcing medical coding is becoming necessary in order to navigate value-based care, as certified coders ensure accuracy and compliance with state and federal documentation guidelines. 

    • Along with specialist referrals, prior authorizations are often necessary in order for a PCP to ensure that a patient gets a test, procedure, or medication that they need. That requires a phone appointment with the reviewer from the insurance company and wastes a tremendous amount of a doctor’s time. There’s a bill in the legislature now to prohibit primary care doctors from being subject to prior authorizations, and they are all praying it passes.

    • Insurance companies now require doctors to fill out patient forms on social determinants of health. In theory, this is an admirable trend. However, PCPs already do this because they think it’s important to get to know a patient and to understand their life situation. The data is for the insurance companies. Putting the PCP in charge of gathering and entering it all is just another unjustified straw on the doctor’s back, because insurance companies refuse to reimburse for the social determinants which directly impact health, such as a lack of air conditioning or mold-infested housing.

    Something the insurance companies do NOT reimburse a PCP for is building a long-term relationship with a patient. There is no coding for experience, commitment, or professional intuition. Which brings us to –

    • Patients seeking primary care doctors are now often given Nurse Practitioners instead. While NPs are highly qualified and patient-friendly, they lack the experience that a seasoned PCP has. A NP has only two years of training after college as opposed to at least seven for a physician. For the first couple years they are out, they have a very steep learning curve. Recent data also shows that they have a higher rate of referring patients to the ER. And PCP NPs are often recruited away to better paying jobs with specialists, so there are disproportionately more newish NPs in the Primary Care world.

    Your primary care physician is your best first point of contact when you need non-emergency medical care. They know your history and can cut to the chase when treatment is required. Studies show that people with primary care doctors actually live longer because PCPs get to know a patient over time and can catch both physical and mental health issues before they become serious. 

    PCPs have become an endangered species in RI. 

    Let’s hope they do not become extinct.

  • Susan Clausen’s Endangered Species

    Susan Clausen’s Endangered Species

    Susan Clausen has been a presence in the Providence art scene since 1985 but it wasn’t until 2021 that I first glimpsed her work through the half open door of her studio. I was on assignment to interview her husband, well-known artist Umberto Crenca, and I was intrigued by this unexpected find. Why hadn’t I heard more about this talented woman?

    “There’s a lot of reasons for that, and it’s not just because we live in a more male-focused society,” Clausen told me. “I have been making art my whole life and it’s always been a critical part of my life and identity. I have never pushed my art career though – I didn’t want financial pressure on my creative process. I am a helper, a worker bee sort of type; that’s just my nature. I like working with people, I like teamwork. I wouldn’t call myself a visionary, but when I believe in an idea, I get behind it.”

    Clausen’s hands-on attitude played an intrinsic part in driving the vision behind AS220. She was there when it opened its doors in a single room above the Providence Performing Arts Center. “I was at every show, whether it was working the door, sweeping up, taking out the trash, whatever, just to help it function.” As AS220 grew, so did Clausen’s role. When AS220 acquired the Dreyfus Building in 2005, Clausen became the property manager, a position she held until 2020. She did the compliance work for affordable housing, fixed what needed to be fixed, and knew everyone who came in. “I really cared about the buildings and the people in them.”


    She puts that same energy into her art. In creating her current collection, Endangered Species, she thought about the personality of each animal and the stories that needed to be told. These fantastical sculptures, which represent rare creatures at the brink of extinction, are the result of both eclectic craftsmanship and sheer imagination. They are the reflection of a life spent exploring the endless possibilities of creative thought.

    Before coming to RI, Clausen earned a BFA from the University of Illinois in light metals and jewelry, then began putting her skills to work. After graduation, she was part of a grassroots recycling collective. Next came a scholarship to the Penland School of Crafts in North Carolina where she worked with glass artist Richard Ritter and helped build his studio. She was a non-degree graduate student in glass at Tyler School of Art in Philadelphia. She was just warming up.

    After moving to RI, Clausen worked at the Weinberg Glass studio and as a model maker in the jewelry industry, then honed her carpentry skills in Bill Crozier’s wood shop in 2001, and became a teaching assistant in carpentry at the RI Detention Facility from 2004-2006.


    Every skill Clausen learned gave a personal twist to the projects she took on. Sandblasted panels and stained glass find their way into wooden cabinets and human prosthetic eyes stare out from the disembodied head of a green giraffe, its mane constructed of painted nails. “I often use found objects for making parts – each of those parts have a dialogue with the others and then I create something around that conversation. That’s always been the way I work.”


    When asked about the process of creating Endangered Species, Clausen explains, “It takes months because I tend to work on a handful of them at the same time,“ Clausen said. “It’s because of the different types of processes it takes – there’s a papier-mâché base, so I might pull everything out of my studio and set it up for that process. I used three different kinds of papers and it’s messy, so I will do a number of them at the same time. Then I’ll get to a different set of problems – dealing with how they will move and what they will finally look like. I might attach the ears on four of them at a time in order to deal with the mechanisms, and then I skin them.”

    Fifteen of these pieces were exhibited in 2022 at Galerie le Domaine on Providence’s East Side. There are no plans yet for a second showing, but the collection continues to grow while Clausen puts in a grueling 40-hour week as director of facilities for Farm Fresh RI.


    Clausen admits that she is looking forward to a time when she can be more focused on her own work. “You know – when I get old and retire,” she laughs. In the meantime, she somehow finds time to play bass with the Gillen Street Ensemble.


    For Clausen, creativity is simply a way of life: “I’m a multidisciplinary artist and musician, I’m a maker. I consider working in the kitchen and making something fabulous to eat a creative process.”

  • To Be a Friend

    To Be a Friend

    Dear C;

    I work at a busy coffee shop. One of my regular customers, Sam, has always been a laid-back dude but recently, he’d complained about feeling dragged out and tired. I didn’t know that much about his personal life, and he seemed to want to talk, so I asked a few questions and discovered he was on nine different medications, five of them psychiatric drugs!

    When I asked how he came to be on so many medications, he told me that it started because he had no health insurance or primary care physician and would go to the ER every time he had a problem. The series of unfamiliar doctors he saw there would just hand him another prescription, without checking into his records for interactions. Trusting the doctors, he kept taking them. 

    It seemed pretty likely that his constant fatigue was being caused by too many drugs so I told him this and asked if he had a primary care doctor now. He did, but admitted he’d never revealed all the medications that he was on because he was afraid she would judge him. I suggested he tell her and get help in tapering off some of his drugs. 

    Unfortunately, he decided he didn’t have to bother with going to the doctor and quit cold turkey the same day without telling anyone.

    Several of his prescriptions had warnings that it was dangerous to stop them without tapering off slowly. Within 24 hours, Sam was in a semi-psychotic state. That’s when he made another bad decision to call an old buddy that he used to do drugs with, and ask for advice. The “buddy” told him to take a double dose of one of the pills, and chew it so it would work faster.

    Sam ended up in the emergency room with his mouth burning, his heart pounding, and on the verge of a serious medical crisis. Turns out the drug he chewed on in a double dose should never be crushed before swallowing and his system had been hit with the equivalent of a triple overdose.

    I’m wondering if there’s anything that I could’ve done as his friend? Did I give him bad advice in the first place by suggesting that his medications were causing his fatigue and that he should probably try to get off of them?

    C says:

    This isn’t your fault. Your advice to decrease his meds was well-intended, but your friend only heard the first half of it – the part about being honest with his doctor went right over his head.

    People who are overly medicated tend to be vague listeners, which is something to keep in mind for the future.

    We all want to help our friends when they are in trouble, but unfortunately we all tend to do  what Sam’s “buddy” did – hand out anecdotal advice. We relate what works for us or what worked for a friend. This would be great if we were all the same person, and our bodies all reacted in an identical way, but that rarely happens. In the case of your friend Sam, his buddy’s advice could’ve been fatal. A common way for people to overdose is to suddenly take a high dose of something that they’ve been off of for a while. Their resistance is down and taking the same amount that a regular user ingests could be enough to send their own system into shut down. 

    Here’s something else to consider – whether he was over-medicated or not, there was a reason that Sam was initially placed on those prescriptions. You don’t know what lies beneath his medicated laid-back surface. If he is bipolar or on antipsychotics, this is nothing to fool around with. 

    The next time a friend has a problem on this level don’t hand out advice yourself even if the solution might seem obvious. A little learning can be a dangerous thing when it comes to handling pharmaceutical emergencies. For a serious, life threatening situation, go to the ER and call the MA and RI Poison Control Center on the way. Their hotline is 1-800-222-1222. 

    Sometimes in order to be a good friend, the best thing you can do is take a step back and let the professionals take over.

  • What is Love?: Love through the ages

    MALE, AGE 58, NEVER MARRIED, SINGLE 

    I used to see love as a romantic epic, with a dazzling beauty who would take my breath away and cartoon birds that sang when she appeared. Later, I just wanted someone I could tolerate after a few hours. In my teens, I was really impacted by Hollywood’s view of love. It gave me unrealistic expectations. At 19 I fell madly in love with a classmate. I barely knew her! There is a big difference between a crush and a deeper, loving relationship.

    Now, I realize that love is messy. You don’t always ride off into the sunset and live happily ever after. It’s more like driving into the sun in a beat up Ford Pinto with a windshield covered in dead bugs. Your significant other is sound asleep in the passenger seat but still slaps your hand when you try to change the radio station.

    Yet, somehow, even that can be enough to give life purpose.

    MALE, AGE 70, DIVORCED, SINGLE

    I recommend love be avoided at all costs.

    However awesome it starts – even if it maintains that level of excellence – it is eventually doomed to turn suckless if for no other reason than one of you will die before the other.

    As far as what I thought when I was younger, I don’t really remember. More likely, I had no idea what love is and still don’t.

    MALE, AGE 58, DIVORCED, SINGLE

    The subject of love is something that has eluded me for more than 10 years since a devastating divorce. I ended up on antidepressants and multiple psych meds. The pharmaceuticals haven’t helped my drive to find someone – it’s tough to find a woman who wants to stick around once they learn about my medicated and cannabis-centric lifestyle. I find Valentine’s Day depressing. I have come to terms [with the idea] that I’m probably going to live my life alone.

    FEMALE, AGE 73, MARRIED

    When I was young, love meant finding a boyfriend who’d commit to marriage. My first husband and I worked hard to start a family and provide security and love for our children.

    After my first marriage failed and my children became independent I felt betrayed and doubted my ability to love and be loved. I dug myself into a dark hole and left my church. But when I returned to Christianity, I was given a second chance to know love.

    I’ve been with my present partner for 13 years and I’ve discovered a deeper meaning of love. It begins with the love of God, followed by mutual respect, give-and-take, and learning to listen and share our feelings daily. We provide love to each other to instill security, to be each other’s advocate, best companion, and cuddle buddy through thick and thin.

    Life on Earth is short. I give thanks and appreciate every waking moment.

    Be kind. Love surrounds us always.

    MALE, AGE 55, NEVER MARRIED, IN RELATIONSHIP

    In my 20s, love meant a perfect union with one special soul mate. She would have every positive quality I expected – beauty, brains, loyalty, and a shared vision for the future. I also expected that this love would be effortless. We’d want exactly the same things out of life. 

    Most of my assumptions were dead wrong, but that didn’t stop me from searching for the exact same thing in my 30s. Some lessons take longer to learn. By my 40s, I’d been in and out of many relationships that ended badly. By now the “soulmate” concept seemed ludicrous. I realized I’d overlooked entire categories of people and I needed to be more aware of the energy of others. I’d missed many opportunities due to a lack of self-confidence.  

    In my 50s, everything’s different. I value brains over bodies and compatibility over sex. Each day is a gift and nothing is guaranteed. Love is not a lightning bolt, it’s a conscious decision you make and re-make every day.

    FEMALE, AGE 75, MARRIED

    After 60, love is about health and mind. The physical is much less important. Love becomes a synchronization of simultaneous, impromptu expression that comes about naturally.

    When I was a teenager, love was physical, probably due to physiological hormone level and puberty.  

    FEMALE, AGE 55, WIDOWED, CURRENTLY SINGLE

    As a teen I thought I would meet my husband, fall in love, get married, have children, and live happily ever after. I did find that and it was true for quite some time. But in my 30s tragedy changed everything.

    My husband, with whom I was madly in love, was in the World Trade Center on 9/11. He returned home that day but he was never the same. I loved him so much that I hoped love would save him. Then one day in 2013 his pain was so great he took his own life. It took me many years to heal.

    When I first found love after his death it was so amazing that it took a year to realize it wasn’t right for me. Now, in my 50s, I’m a very different person. After our breakup, I did some soul searching and realized that over the past 30 years I’d gone on my own journey, but I’d never developed the most important love of all – self-love. I’m working now at understanding love from another angle. Looking at my past, I realize that I never put my own needs first or really cared about myself. Learning to value myself is the purest love I’ve ever felt. I’m hoping now I will find a companion with similar awareness so we can travel life together with a more complete kind of love.

    FEMALE, AGE 60, MARRIED

    Back in the day I naively wanted grand romantic gestures and fairytale scenarios. I learned to adjust my expectations. Now, I appreciate quiet companionship and I find it’s sexy knowing the bills are paid.

  • Habits

    Habits

    Advice from the Trenches

    Dear C;

    I have had it. I am sick and tired of myself. Every year I resolve to make the same changes and I start off with such a great attitude and so much enthusiasm, and then it just kind of dribbles off. I didn’t even bother to try this year.

    I know I have some bad habits that I need to quit. If I don’t stop smoking and eat better, I’m gonna end up like my father — the dude has chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and diabetes now and his life totally sucks. But making resolutions doesn’t work for me and I’ve already tried Weight Watchers. I’m not a joiner. What else is there?   – Flawed Fred 

    Dear Flawed;

    If New Year’s resolutions did work there probably wouldn’t be nearly as much cheap exercise equipment for sale on Craigslist. The biggest problem with making those virtuous resolutions is that it leaves you free to spend every day until New Year overindulging in whatever you plan to give up. By New Years you’re probably bloated, strung out, and in worse shape than ever. After the initial Clean Slate enthusiasm wears off, and all you’ve managed to do is get back to where you were a month ago, you’re just plain sick of it.

    If you really want to change, stop making resolutions and learn how to make habits work for you instead of against you. 

    All humans are creatures of habit, and good or bad, all of our habits have a purpose. They help us stay anchored and they give us a sense of security and comfort in an uncertain world. Even when they are eroding our health, they make us feel better, albeit in the short run. We can’t expect to simply rip out a habit and then go on — life becomes a constant struggle against an aching void.

    Something has to fill that void. If you simply stop the habit, you are going to feel like crap — and if you don’t see the “new you!” results that you were expecting, the whole struggle is going to seem pointless. No wonder you give up.

    Throwing out bad habits without forming new ones is like throwing out your old living room furniture without bothering to buy a new set. There’s no place to sit but the floor.

    It’s time for you to go habit shopping, Fred. 

    The #1 top rated replacement for any habit is exercise. There are a huge number of varieties to choose from and Craigslist will have some real bargains by February if you need equipment. Take advantage of those poor suckers, who are still making resolutions.

    Maybe you don’t want to exercise — no one who is not in the habit of exercising ever does. But if you want a big return on your investment, exercise is a blue chip stock.

    Exercise helps flush out toxins and it improves your mood; the endorphins it produces are a great  high. It makes you feel like you’re doing something, not just sitting there waiting for stuff to go away. And exercise makes you look and feel healthier. Instead of presenting a pale, suffering face to the world, your flushed cheeks, and heavy breathing say: I’m ready for SEX. 

    Find some kind of exercise that is also fun and interesting. If you like to watch movies, set yourself up on stationary equipment in front of a screen and entertain yourself while you sweat. Pumping to music can fire you up when you are sinking into a depression. Or, if you like to compete, join a team or play tennis. Go hiking with friends. Take dance lessons or get a workout video if you don’t want to join anything. Whatever you do, don’t sit in one spot and struggle with your demons. The demons will always win. Get your freakin’ ass in gear.

    New habits can also be painless and fun. Pick up a musical instrument. Take voice lessons. You can sign up for glass blowing classes, or learn a language. Chill out with meditation, yoga, or t’ai chi. Volunteer for your favorite cause and meet new people. Are you starting to get the idea? Don’t just try to force yourself to give things up. GET something. It really takes your mind off whatever habit you are trying to break.

    But, a caution: if you have a drug or alcohol problem you need more than a new habit. You need professional and sometimes medical help. Drugs can alter your thinking and your physiology, to the point where you are incapable of making a decision that your drug of choice does not want you to make — and trust me, your drug does not want you to quit. If you suddenly go cold turkey, your body is going to go into a state of extreme crisis, and this is nothing to fool around with on your own.

    Luckily, Fred, your habits sound like ones that haven’t actively ruined your life yet and you have a rational grasp of the need to change. I think you can. Just remember this: It takes two months for a new habit to really take hold. If you can make it to two months, it stops being an uphill battle. You may never stop craving your old ways, but the more you feed the new habit, the stronger it gets. You might actually start craving exercise.

    A habit can work for you. This time choose a good one.