Imagination-Arts​ Publications

Judith Peck, Ed.D. The red car was positioned at an angle behind the bird, its rear jutting out into the road, as if stopped in unintended haste. Situated behind the bird, his car could not have been the one that struck it. The driver must have seen it lying in the road, as I did driving a car behind him, then pulled over to the side. I slowed down and when I saw the man step out of his car and approach the stricken bird, I was compelled to pull off the road and watch. The bird, a small one, perhaps a sparrow, lay in the road flapping its wings spasmodically, unable to move. Cars approaching behind me drove around the bird slowly, rubbernecking, as they might in any accident occurring in their path. The man stood over the bird for a second or two assessing its injury then bending,...

Judith Peck, Ed.D. Matthew Walker's book, Why We Sleep, is an eye-opener on many levels. Reading it is probably a better prescription for bodily and mental health than a trip to the doctor, going on a diet, or running around the block. Walker, a PhD, is Director of UC Berkeley's Sleep and Neuroimaging Lab, and he starts out with this bit of perspective: "No matter what vantage point you take, sleep would appear to be the most foolish of biological phenomena. When you are asleep, you cannot gather food. You cannot socialize. You cannot find a mate and reproduce.  You cannot nurture or protect your offspring. Worse still, sleep leaves you vulnerable to predation. Sleep is surely one of the most puzzling of all human behaviors." Yet, Walker notes that sleep prevails across the entire animal kingdom and its "perseverance through evolution means there must be  tremendous benefits that far...

Judith Peck, Ed.D. Enjoying morning coffee on the patio, feet on a stool and looking out beyond the trees to the street beyond, I spied a runner jogging past. I’d seen this lithe, athletic female before and memory jogged along that she did 3 turns around this block. Was this the 1st, 2nd or 3rd? In some opaque, unreasonable quest for information I needed to know. For an answer, I sat and waited. A turn around this block at jogging pace would take about ten minutes. It didn’t take me long to recognize this allocation of time as useless,  tantamount nutritionally to the empty calories of a 12 ounce soda. Yet I had to wait, my brain apparently like a frenzied computer wired for resolution. The woman did appear again and I was satisfied enough not to care if this was #2 or 3. So, how often did I swig...

Judith Peck, Ed.D. Classic music spreads tranquility but much more. Because of its complexity, classical music is the choice to play around newborns as they kick and tumble under their mobiles and young children toddle about. Listening stimulates neurons in the brain to make synaptic connections. So while the body and mood relaxes, the brain is active. Not to be underestimated in value, Mom and Dad are soothed with music, frazzled nerves smoothed after sleep-deprived nights and the wails of their dudes and damsels in distress. Mozart to the rescue. But for a trifecta of accomplishment under stress, try making music yourself, by singing. You will be amazed how much the kids will love it. And so will you.

Judith Peck, Ed.D. Does anyone remember the joy of folding diapers?  I'm serious? Warm and clean from the dryer, all that was expected of you was to lift a handful, set this down and one at a time make the neat, even folds until the diapers are all piled up, then place the neat pile in a drawer. So easy yet productive a task. Has anything since compared with the combined relaxation and usefulness of the enterprise? Oh, never mind the preliminaries; the poop is a mere splash in the pan, a toss in the washer then off to of the dryer and your receptive hands. The warm comfort of the process as you fold the clean cloth melds with the singular thought since giving birth that never totally left you for a moment: the chubby, gurgling recipient who wears this wardrobe, limbs dancing in air as you pin around...

Judith Peck, Ed.D. We don't go to bed angry, that was a rule with the kids. It was to temper eruptions between a child and me or a feud between siblings. Rules work well, a kind of structural exterior to steady the quivering emotions inside. We don't go to bed angry, we wait until morning; that's the other half of it. I wonder why we never employed this with the grownups of the house. Well, because the rule would be difficult. Experienced sparring partners have learned where the soft spots are, how to get in there for a jab, maybe enjoy the conflict, the energy of it. Still, the rule is not a bad idea to try. Here's how the rule went down once with my 12-year old daughter and me although I can't remember the argument: possibly her unacceptable behavior and my refusal to acknowledge her advanced maturity, evident...

Judith Peck, Ed.D. Underlying myriad cultural shifts in gender relationships, I sense there still exists a Me Tarzan/Me Jane mentality. At least for Tarzan.  Having been catchers and slayers of wild beasts, let alone principal bread winners for decades, a feeling of accomplishment for bringing home the bacon is in men's DNA. Women for similar decades relied on accomplishment in cooking baking, parenting and cleaning up after everyone in whatever cave they called home. They ventured out for pay primarily as secretaries and teachers and cleaner-upper of others. The money was never substantial enough to be a criterion of success. Instead, women sensed a measure of power. They were appreciated by men for these motley tasks; smiled at, made love to with various rationalizations as to its meaning, fed in the cave and later at Chez Pierre. But money in the rest of the workplace, which men occupied, did become...

Judith Peck, Ed.D. A feeling of happiness begins not from a state of mind but an impression of the senses. From sight, sound, taste, smell or touch first, and only later, the mind's awareness. Nature affords this nutrition for the senses, which is just as necessary for a state of well being as the nutrients of food and drink for the body. I first understood this when I was in a position to feel all five of these remarkable ingredients and in those moments became aware of the sensation, I am happy. Sitting in a comfortable chair in an exquisite room decorated by the wife, an artist, sipping a glass of excellent red wine, home-made by the husband, while music by Prokovioff surged from the piano, I was effused with a sensation of complete happiness. I realized suddenly that this state of being, so complete in its lack of tension...

Judith Peck, Ed.D. Chipmunks are cute and adorable. Mice are deplorable, not cute at all, but why the stark difference? Both are rodents— run as fast, eat, and intuit similarly, even look a bit alike, except for one thing: one is pretty and the other is not. Chipmunks have colorful stripes and a cute nose and puffy cheeks. They both keep their distance, though mouse hides, sort of knowing he's not a pretty thing to you, and certainly not wanted, while chipmunks runs and darts around like it's you who are on his turf and not the other way around. Chipmunk does things that amuse you, like stand on his hind legs and munch on a nut, spilling the shells from his adorable cheeks. He's earned that nut, scavenging for it, and eating it is his just reward. The only time you see mouse is the split second he appears...

Judith Peck, Ed.D. A large table in my bedroom had been moved away leaving a whole corner area empty. The next morning seated and lacing my shoes I glanced at the empty space so previously cluttered and was seized by a glimpse into the future. Not my future, for I was no longer here as I was dead; my bedroom existed as simply space. Using my hands as blinders, I captioned off that corner space and it no longer held an eerie glimpse into the future. Instead the room fell into place as it belonged. There were the black slacks slung over a chair, the rumpled bed, the cascading books on the night table, the earrings and neckless I hang on myself as adornment in the world outside my bedroom door. All that crumble and clutter, glitter and immediacy. I had a similar glimpse into future when my daughter embarked...