This I Believe - Rhode Island

By ALEX MYERS

RIPR – The famed writer and poet Gertrude Stein once said, ''Growing has no connection with audience. Audience has no connection with identity." Stein's claim, it seems, is that our true identity is embedded deep within each of us and develops over the years in its own inexorable way. It's a complex, even debatable phenomenon, as Alex Myers knows very, very well.

By SUE ABBOTSON

PROVIDENCE, RI – Unmitigated joy. How often do we get to experience that in life? For most of us, our daily activities are filled with a rather unpredictable mix of satisfying moments, annoyances, intriguing challenges, and mundane tasks. But unmitigated joy? Not so often. And, yet, as Sue Abbotson reminds us, unmitigated joy is a real possibility, and sometimes comes to us in unexpected ways.

By WENDY SHAPIRO

RIPR – All of our lives include some dark moments, some that are much darker than others. We do the best we can to cope during difficult times, hoping that the shadows will lift. Sadly, some people are so overwhelmed by life's daunting challenges that they can't seem to find a way out. Others, like Wendy Shapiro, manage not only to climb out of the dark hole, but truly flourish along the way.

By HENRI FLIKIER

RIPR – How often have you stood impatiently in what turned out to be the interminably long line at the supermarket, or felt at a complete loss for what to do in those all-too-rare, often unexpected hiatuses in your overly scheduled life? As Henri Flikier observes in this encore essay, boredom is in the eye of the beholder and, often, is not what it seems.

By RABBI ALAN FLAM

PROVIDENCE, RI – In this week's This I Believe--Rhode Island essay, Rabbi Alan Flam reminds us to be mindful of the challenges faced by our nation's most vulnerable citizens.

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By SUNIL BHATIA

By ED MARTIN

RIPR – Often our instinct is to think of death as dark, macabre, even sinister. After all, death means loss and saying goodbye to the most precious people in our lives. But as Ed Martin notes in this encore essay, being intimately involved as a loved one departs from life as we know it can be a privilege as well, one that enriches our lives in ways we might not have imagined.

By BETTY ADLER

RIPR – During our lifetimes, many of us have known true horror, whether the result of personal tragedy, such as the untimely death of a loved one, or worldwide disaster, such as a world war or the attack of 9-11. Betty Adler had her own brush with calamity, and during her 86 years has learned to still believe in the possibilities of hope and redemption, as we hear in this encore essay.

By DEE SAINT FRANCE

By NAOMI HERZFELD

RIPR – One of the joys of living in the Ocean State is that we're surrounded by a critical mass of remarkably creative people. With good reason, Rhode Island is known for its rich collection of painters, jewelry designers, sculptors, potters, and weavers. At their foundation, these forms of art are a profound act of creation. For Naomi Herzfeld, such handwork is deeply personal, even spiritual, as we hear in this encore essay.