IN THESE DIVIDED AND STRESSFUL TIMES, we are experiencing a sort of collective trauma. Every day we read about or watch events unfold that would have been unthinkable only a few years ago: Nazis marching and chanting in the streets of the United States, cars plowing into crowds as a […]
FATHERS ARE IMPORTANT. This fact has become increasingly apparent to me as I work on my next memoir and reflect deeply on my life. In my case, the loss of my father’s presence to divorce at an early age greatly influenced me: my beliefs about people, relationships with boys and […]
ARE YOU SELF-CRITICAL? Get down on yourself for making mistakes or not meeting your own standards? If so, you’re definitely not alone. Many of us run a constant inner dialogue that sounds something like this: I can’t do anything right! Who would want to read anything I write? What an […]
EVERYONE EXPERIENCES FEAR. Healthy fear arises from proximity to a dangerous situation: a healthy fear of falling, for example, prevents us from standing too close to the edge of a cliff. A healthy fear of injury or death prevents us from crossing the street in front of oncoming traffic. We […]
IN CHALLENGING TIMES, it is easy to get lost in the dark or negative aspects of what is going on around us and forget to look for the good—especially when newspapers and online media sensationalize the negative in order to take advantage of our natural, though morbid, sense of curiosity. […]
THERE’S NO DOUBT ABOUT IT. Even when you are happily anticipating the celebrations, family gatherings and downtime from work, the holidays can be stressful. This year, because of the deep philosophical and political divides that emerged during the recent elections, stress levels are running particularly high. And if you are one […]
SUMMER is a great time to journal, and summer vacation provides more time for writing as well as opportunities for new experiences, observation, and reflection. Whether your vacation is a month-long excursion to an exotic location, a staycation, or camping with family, these prompts will provide new ways to think […]
SOMETIMES IT SEEMS that I have been a mother for a very, very long time. My eldest son was nineteen when my youngest was born, and though they are all adults now, they will always be my children — always a source of care, concern, and love. Being a mother […]
There are as many approaches to journaling as there are aspects of life to focus on; one of these aspects is spirituality. Journaling about spirituality can help bring clarity to your thoughts as well as help define priorities for the competing demands of the other parts of your life: health, work, family, love relationships, […]
Mistake: an action or judgment that is misguided or wrong: coming here was a mistake | she made the mistake of thinking they were important.• something, esp. a word, figure, or fact, that is not correct; an inaccuracy: a couple of spelling mistakes. Everyone makes mistakes and everyone knows it. From spelling and grammar errors to life changing wrong decisions, if we’ve lived any length of time, we’ve […]
The approach of Fathers’ Day, heralded by ads for colorful shirts, silk ties, barbecues, and heavy duty tools, makes me think about all the fathers I know and their importance to their children. My own fathers (I had two: one biological, and one the man my mother was married to), […]
I have been trying to write this post for a month — seriously. But one thing or another would get in the way: work, family responsibilities, illness, scheduled commitments. The very subject of control seemed to attract a barrage of incoming demands, both positive and negative, as though Life wished […]
