This week I’m taking a break from my miniseries to bring you a more lighthearted post. Challenging Conversations, Conscious Choices will return next week. In the meantime, come take a stroll with me to visit five places I’ve come to love since moving to Portland thirteen years ago.
All Ways Well Acupuncture—I first needed Rebecca when I was involved in a moving vehicle accident and required treatment for soft tissue damage. I entered the treatment room. It was serene, quiet. I laid face down on her table and moved around until I got comfortable. I relaxed; then I got poked, over and over. In the early days it was not that relaxing of an endeavor, given the sore and pained nature of my injured back. I soon grew to love those sacred minutes, though, when all would be quiet and I could just meditate while qi buzzed through me like healing lightning. After my back was healed from the MVA trauma, I returned to her for many issues. Acupuncture is an amazing healer. I highly recommend Rebecca and her magic.
ZenJens’ Jen Keller—I have known Jen longer than I have used her waxing services and facials. She was one of the first people I met in Portland, as a matter of fact. A few months after we met, a mutual friend gave me a gift certificate for an eyebrow wax. I took the envelope in my hands and opened it. Inside was a playful certificate that read, Good for one eyebrow wax from Jen Keller. I looked over at Jude in surprise, thanked her, and exclaimed that I had no idea Jen was an aesthetician. I was so excited! I had never had an eyebrow wax. I was pretty unrefined when I moved to Portland at the age of 24. I find it shocking when I hear about mothers taking their pubescent daughters to get their upper lip waxed, but I suppose that is the millennial equivalent of getting your ears pierced when you turn thirteen. So, gleefully, I kissed my bushy eyebrows goodbye and have never looked back.
Shannon Troy—I was introduced to massage therapist Shannon Troy through a coworker. She had been using Shannon’s services for quite some time, and by the time she came into my radar, half of my department was also using her. She’s good. She’s really good. If you like (no, need) someone who uses her entire body strength to unknot your back, Shannon is your therapist. She is not someone who will rub your back lightly and send you on your way. No, she will work very hard to bestow peace on your sore muscles, and you will love her well-disposed torture.
Portland Community College—I come from Ohio, land of prolonged recession, 18 electoral votes, and some truly outstanding colleges.  Growing up I was told—not asked—to obtain a college education. In-state was the best option, since it was (relatively) cheaper and I would have a plethora of possibilities. I applied to several schools, mostly private, save Kent State University (where my sister eventually chose to get her undergrad and her Masters). I ended up at Wittenberg University, a tiny private liberal arts university in Springfield, Ohio. Witt, as we students called it, was an idyllic bubble surrounded by southwestern Ohio gems such as Yellow Springs (a tiny hippie town where we would go to drink elegant and sumptuous coffees and buy tapestries that we would hang in our dorm rooms beside framed devotions to our high school friends and family), and Dayton, the closest city where we could find fancy restaurants and entertainment outside of bars, bowling alleys, and shopping malls. I wouldn’t trade Witt for any other experience; it was four amazing years of giggles and tears, of learning the struggle and beauty of life.
As an adult, I discovered I wasn’t interested in the toils and troubles of getting my Masters degree. First of all, I honestly had no idea what I would do in a Masters program. I could go for creative writing, but what would that get me? A chapbook published by a university press and a teaching job somewhere? How about journalism? Newspapers were quickly becoming a thing of the past and I wasn’t confident enough in the bourgeoning internet news medium that I wanted to gain (another) huge school debt for a disappointing job in retail—or worse, as a barista—when I was unable to find a writing job. But I savor learning; I love a classroom setting. I’m one of those weirdos who avidly waves her hand in class and tries to catch the eye of the teacher to get their attention. So here and there, to get my classroom fix, I’ve taken courses at Portland Community College. Currently I’m taking a writing class, and I am loving it! PCC is a highly respected community college with a stellar reputation. We never age out of bettering our education. Take a look at their adult education classes here.
Multnomah County Library—Ah, the bookworm’s haven. Delicious, captivating stories. History. Adventure! Tragedy. I’ve always loved going to the library. As a child, my mother would have to limit us to checking out (only) one giant stack of books at a time, or as many as our little arms could carry. Any more than that would have to wait until the next trip. My sister and I devoured words for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. We even held our own read-ins. The library was a second home for us, and still is for me today.
Multnomah County Library is known for its huge circulation of titles as well as its programs and events for the public, many of which are completely free. Utilize your local branch, or come to the marble-floored monstrosity of the Central Library downtown. If you’re working on your National Novel Writing Month project, there are plenty of happenings for writers—a Nano Survival Skills Workshop and following write in are both at the Central Library this Saturday. Hope to see you there!

Photo courtesy of Buy Olympia.