Caroline Rothstein

Writer | Poet | Performer | Educator | Documentary Filmmaker

[carolinerothstein]

Ok so I haven’t posted on here in like 8 years.

I’m back.

What’d I miss?

[carolinerothstein]

A note about Valentine's Day & Body Empowerment

A NOTE ON #VALENTINESDAY & every day: When I was a kid, my parents would say, "I love you so whole in the world." It became the family mantra when saying "I love you." My mother just texted it to my sister and me, and added, "Maybe it has a metaphorical meaning." For three decades I've received and heard and said that line "I love you so whole in the world" without a second thought or further contemplation. When my mother slowed it down enough today to ask me pause, to consider the metaphor, I felt the phrase so wholly and holy. There is so much importance in loving each other and ourselves wholly and whole. Unconditional love towards the self and each other is a key in unlocking the fear that ultimately manifests as violence and oppression. The myriad overt violence and oppressions in the last week alone have been - like all those before - unconscionable. So much of it - I can only assume - a result of perpetrators of said violence not feeling whole, or seeing the holy whole in others. Today is a powerful day. It's a day that began as a liturgical celebration of Christian saints with various legends and narratives surrounding its origins in the early Roman Empire. It's become a day propagated by consumerism to tell us how we should be loved or how to love or who to love. And it's also a day that the V-Day movement has turned into a global campaign to end sexual violence worldwide. There are so many ways the world asks today to take shape. As if love - itself - can even be defined or contained. As if love - itself - can even be measured or sized. Even the notion of that which is "whole" - how too can even that be defined? And yet, the notion of loving something so whole in the world - of loving it fully and entirely - feels like another key in unleashing the myriad fears that again and again separate us and perpetuate violence, in all unjust forms. Regarding the devastating fire impacting Houston's Muslim community this week, a friend noted how exhausting it is for the Muslim community - locally and at large - to have to convince others they are human. And I think about how again and again that happens with every marginalized body and voice. That #BlackLivesMatter came out of that very injustice and pain. That again and again this happens and still still still it must stop immediately immediately now. And so, today, and every every every day - may we love each other and ourselves so whole in the world. Happy February 14 - in whatever incarnation you choose to hold it.

[carolinerothstein]

For everyone on Tumblr who has been posting and sharing the words to my poem "Fat" all these years...here it is officially. Thanks for the ongoing love and support. Enjoy. And thanks to Germ Magazine for giving it a home.

[carolinerothstein]

Gratitude

The breath. In its abundance. In all its genius. In all its curious splendor. Harness it in a bucket. Carry it into the home from the well outside. Pour it into a basin. Bathe in it your arms. With your hands - envelope your skin. Touch the fragile curves and delicacies that make your body yours. Then, give thanks. The breath - it is gratitude. Each inhale a nod to the body, a bow down to the soul. Each exhale a kiss to the universe, a little peck on the cheek of the sky.

[carolinerothstein]

"BODY EMPOWERMENT"

2014 Summer Series: Episode TWO

Hosted & Produced by Caroline Rothstein

Filmed & Edited by Kieran Najita 

About BODY EMPOWERMENT: 

Founded in 2008, "Body Empowerment" is hosted and produced by NYC-based writer, performer, body empowerment advocate, and educator Caroline Rothstein. In an effort to promote eating disorder awareness, prevention, and recovery, as well as promote positive body image worldwide, Caroline shares her own recovery stories - both the challenges and triumphs - as well as the ways in which we can empower our bodies and selves on emotional and mental levels. 

New episodes of the 2014 summer series air every Tuesday through August 2014. 

Caroline welcomes and encourages viewer comments, questions, and video topic requests.

Spread the word - we all deserve a lifetime of empowerment!

http://www.carolinerothstein.com

https://www.facebook.com/CarolineRothsteinOFFICIAL

https://twitter.com/cerothstein

http://instagram.com/carolinerothstein

For all booking inquires, please contact: [email protected]

All rights reserved by Caroline Rothstein, 2014.

[carolinerothstein]

"BODY EMPOWERMENT"

2014 Summer Series: Episode ONE

Hosted & Produced by Caroline Rothstein

Filmed & Edited by Kieran Najita 

About BODY EMPOWERMENT: 

Founded in 2008, "Body Empowerment" is hosted and produced by NYC-based writer, performer, body empowerment advocate, and educator Caroline Rothstein. In an effort to promote eating disorder awareness, prevention, and recovery, as well as promote positive body image worldwide, Caroline shares her own recovery stories - both the challenges and triumphs - as well as the ways in which we can empower our bodies and selves on emotional and mental levels. 

New episodes of the 2014 summer series air every Tuesday through August 2014. 

Caroline welcomes and encourages viewer comments, questions, and video topic requests.

Spread the word - we all deserve a lifetime of empowerment!

http://www.carolinerothstein.com

https://www.facebook.com/CarolineRothsteinOFFICIAL

https://twitter.com/cerothstein

http://instagram.com/carolinerothstein

For all booking inquires, please contact: [email protected]

All rights reserved by Caroline Rothstein, 2014.

[carolinerothstein]

"Discover your core, and nurture it." - Caroline Rothstein

[carolinerothstein]

There’s something nostalgically silent about alone time – reminiscent of the womb.

Caroline Rothstein, January 20, 2008

[carolinerothstein]

Caroline Rothstein's Set List - Austin Poetry Slam, Austin, Texas, 10/29/13 (The Slut, How Not To Purge, Patience, You Could Be Next, Time Heals?, We Are the Ones We Have Been Waiting For). 

[carolinerothstein]

Caroline Rothstein's Set List - University of Wisconsin - Madison, 10/15/13 (The Slut, A Good Feminist, How Not To Purge, How to Have the Best Orgasm of Your Entire Life, To the poet who said "I want to make love to a raped woman," How To Rekindle the Girl, Buoy, Here in My Head, You Could Be Next, Midas Touch, Other Messages, What I Learned in College). 

[carolinerothstein]

Content warning: The author has requested that there be a content/trigger warning as this piece talks about sexual abuse and rape.

Read more: http://blogs.forward.com/sisterhood-blog/184925/forgiving-the-men-who-sexually-abused-me/#ixzz2i0BKmuBt

[carolinerothstein]

www.carolinerothstein.com 

[carolinerothstein]

Caroline Rothstein's Set List, Middle Georgia State College - Warner Robbins, 10/10/13 (Fat, You Could Be Next, How To Have the Best Orgasm of Your Entire Life, For You, House, Midas Touch, Life Worth, What I Learned in College). 

[carolinerothstein]

Caroline Rothstein's Set List, Georgia Highlands College - Cartersville, 10/10/13 (You Could Be Next, Fat, I Could Never Have a Homophobic Lover, For You, An Invitation To Let Go, Midas Touch, Therapy, Life Worth, We Are the Ones We Have Been Waiting For, How to Have the Best Orgasm of Your Entire Life, What I Learned in College). 

[carolinerothstein]

Caroline Rothstein's Set List, University of North Georgia - Oconee, 10/9/13 (Cover: A Litany Of Survival by Audre Lorde, You Could Be Next, When, An Invitation To Let Go, I Could Never Have a Homophobic Lover, How To Rekindle The Girl, Fat, How Not To Purge, Therapy, Where's the Referee?, Life Worth, What I Learned in College). 

[carolinerothstein]

Caroline Rothstein's Set List, Georgia Highlands College - Floyd, 10/8/13 (You Could Be Next, Fat, Chicago Bulls A Monologue, Life Worth, How to Have the Best Orgasm of Your Entire Life, For You, When, Jewish Assimilation, How Not To Purge, Midas Touch, Therapy, I Could Never Have a Homophobic Lover, What I Learned in College).

[carolinerothstein]

Caroline Rothstein's Set List, Georgia Highlands College - Douglasville, 10/7/13 (Fat, You Could Be Next, How To Have the Best Orgasm of Your Entire Life, How to Rekindle the Girl, For You, My Whiteness, House, Life Worth, For Bernie Madoff, What I Learned in College).