Danuta Pfeiffer's Blog

Whether you are on the left or the right of the political spectrum--you feel it: Tension. Anger. Frustration. Social fatigue. Animosity. Hostility. Name calling. Blaming. Helplessness. So many of my friends on both sides are exhibiting symptoms of a country in crisis. And we deserve it. We earned this calamity. Every disenfranchised American who just gave up on the political process merited this national heartache. Every eligible voter who found an excuse not to exercise their privilege to be counted are reaping the reward of their complacency. Every disheartened citizen who turned a cynical eye to news and information scored a win for hopelessness. "Yeah, but," you may say, "Polling locations are rigged in my neighborhood," or, "Voter suppression is strong in my state demanding photo ID's and intimidating minority groups such as Hispanics, African-Americans, and transgendered voters," or "There are long lines," or, "I can't take off from work," or, "the voting machines didn't work," or, "I didn't like any of the candidates and stayed home." Yeah, you can say that. Forty percent of eligible voters did. Hence, my point, we deserve what we reap. Now for the good news. It hurts. Americans have a high threshold for pain. But maybe beyond that threshold, it hurts enough to change. Perhaps we may just find ourselves introspective, asking fundamental questions about who we truly are as a people, what our values are, what our country stands for, who we want to be. And maybe, just maybe, we may discover the power and recourse within ourselves to become a United States of America, dedicated to a higher consciousness , not of one of self-loathing, but self-confidence, not a country of castigation and censure but a nation of collaboration and consensus, not a country of us and them, but a country of We The People.We can do this. It begins with a voice. It begins with a vote..

It has been an exciting journey reading my own work. As a matter of fact, more like an out-of-the-body experience reading my own words out loud and reliving those experiences as the writer, the narrator and the editor. This new version of Chiseled has taken twice the time to produce and 4 times the expected expense--much like writing a book! One just doesn't have a clue as to how long the project will take, you just have to walk through it.My production engineer was Don Ross with Don Ross Studios in Eugene. A pure professional and I thank him for keeping a close eye on details and helping me read through lines that at times were emotionally difficult.There is some kind of magic in listening to an author read her own life--I do hope you enjoy it as much as I loved doing this labor of love. You can access the book by going to Audible, become a member and get $10 off the purchase price. A great deal. And do tell me what you think. A review would be great!

I believe we grow in thousands of small steps seen best at a distance, a decade at a time.  And although I have yet to achieve all ten decades (but have every intention of doing so!) here is my time machine in 10 year glimpses of how we change to become ultimately, who we are:1 to 10 years:  We are brand new, curious as to how our body moves, we taste and touch, experiencing who we belong to, bonding to our family circle, imitating habits and language.10 to 20 years:  We are adolescents, kicking

 In the heat of this year's Repbulican primary contest, I was asked by one of my followers, Robert, "How did we get here?" While it would be impossible to detail all the complex reasons in one short blog, here is my overview:I believe it started when Jesus Joined the GOP, the title of a soon-to-be-published book by Terry Heaton, the former executive producer of The 700 Club with Pat Roberston.  In his book, Heaton says that when Robertson spawned the Christian Coalition and The 700 Club's

It was the house my grandfather built, the house where my father was born, and which stood in the center of the village like a beacon of hope. It survived the Nazis who stole all the furnishings, and the food, and then the Russians who took everything else, the plumbing, the iron railings, and even the nails from the floorboards.  It warmed my family during the cold Carpathian Mountain winters and nurtured them with a shaded garden in the summers.  Later, the house became a source of contention

  If you read my memoir, Chiseled, you were introduced to my brave-hearted mother, Patricia.  She was a lover of plants and animals and all things living and non-living including rocks, beautiful stones, fallen autumn leaves, and wind-swept wood washed up on beaches. She languished in her later years with Alzheimer's and forgot it all. But I remember for her.    This autumn, I took a walk through the vineyard on a blustery October day to the northwest perimeter of the property where five Sweet

It's not hard to see why Donald Trump is a hero to some people.  He is stirring up the muck from this country's sense of malaise.  People are sick of ineffectual government, a growing oligarchy of the rich dominating political decisions in favor of the rich, promises made and not kept, jobs going overseas, unfair trade deals, political correctness, calculated speeches and stilted politicans.  Trump is an entertaining mouthpiece for the disenfranchised voter, particularly in the south.  And just

Recently, I was asked by a devout Christian if I still held the same views about gay marriage as I did when I wrote my book, Dear Danuta while working at the Christian Broadcast Network.  In that book of advice I warned that the Bible was "filled with warnings" against homosexuality and that "any minister who tried to tap dance out of it is a liar," and that "You would have to be blind not to see it."  Those statements remain true as far as the Bible goes.  But, what is not so clear to me is the

We learned in the last blog five ways to take control of who you want to be.  The best part?  You can change your identity as often as you like!  YOU DO NOT HAVE TO BE STUCK.  If you don't like the life you're living, change it.  If you don't like your body--fix it.  Coninued from our last blog, here are 5 more ways to Chisel your life:   6.)  Don't get rattled by emotions.  Fear, anxiety, lust, grief, uncertainty, hatred, loneliness, whatever has you in its grip, remember that those emotions

Everyone is Chiseled. We emerge as the people we are by the sharp-edged tools of a sculpted life --the close calls, the sharp pains, the tricks and cheats that make life  unfair, the highs and lows--we become formed by these inevitable forces.  But that does not mean we are doomed to live at the mercy of those pressures.   If you are living a life that is unsatisfying, unhappy, unfulfilling or just feeling stuck--you have the ability to  redefine your life and to reinvent it.     You can be the