D E N A   S C H U S T E R M A N

AUTHOR | EDUCATOR | SPEAKER

Explore the threads of resilience, faith, and connection in my debut memoir.

Following years of reflecting on "working on my prose" and my overarching story arc, I am thrilled to present Stories Carry. A personal narrative that explores finding meaning, community, and humor in life's unpredictable seasons.

Pre-order now 
D E N A   S C H U S T E R M A N

AUTHOR | EDUCATOR | SPEAKER

Explore the threads of resilience, faith, and connection in my debut memoir.

Following years of reflecting on "working on my prose" and my overarching story arc, I am thrilled to present Stories Carry. A personal narrative that explores finding meaning, community, and humor in life's unpredictable seasons.

Pre-order now

Latest Musings

Blog
Spaceship. Lifeboat. Crew
Spaceship. Lifeboat. Crew

I am not particularly interested in outer space. 

This feels like a confession. For someone my age—Gen X, raised on rockets and Reagan and the promise of “the final frontier”—I’m aware this borders on heresy. We were in sixth grade when Christa McAuliffe boarded the Challenger and never came back. People my age remember exactly where they were when they watched it happen. My husband does. I don’t.

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Come To My Garden
Come To My Garden

Come to my garden, my sister, my bride.

A field is where necessities are planted.
Wheat. Vegetables. Survival.

A garden is where we plant for pleasure.

This world, the mystics say, is not a field (or a jungle, despite evidence to the contrary). It is a garden. And we are the bride.

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Wind and the Sun
Wind and the Sun

“Over the last 100 years do you feel Rosh Hashanah has changed for your family and community?

How do you anticipate this holiday evolving in the future?”

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Outside the Outside
Outside the Outside

On Sunday morning, we took an Uber from JFK to the Ohel. Our driver pulled up in a spotless red Tesla. No smells. That’s basically the Uber equivalent of winning the Mega Millions, only with better odds.

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My Coffee Date with God
My Coffee Date with God

I used to struggle to believe that a spiritual energy vivifies the world. The concrete felt most real to me.

Emotions, spirituality, they seemed like gauzy abstractions I couldn’t quite grasp.

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Very Demure. Very Mindful.
Very Demure. Very Mindful.

There’s a recent ridiculous trend about being “Very demure. Very mindful.”

I don’t know the context, but you don’t have to, to get that someone is poking fun at our society at large.

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Hi, I’m Dena.

Hi, I’m Dena. I am working on my prose, story arc, and becoming a more emotional and descriptive writer, in the meantime I share my cerebral thoughts. I hope you enjoy them. And enjoy the journey as I become a better writer.

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