A French philosopher named Jacques Derrida argued that human beings are consistently too late to catch the beginning of anything and too early to catch the end. So, that leaves us in the middle – always in the middle. In other words, the past is in the past and the future hasn’t happened yet, and […]
Several years ago I found myself in one of those life seasons where many hard things happened at once. I had multiple stressors in my life at that time and two MAJOR ones. So, just imagine your two biggest life stressors and then imagine them happening at once. That was my life.
This week I talked to a friend who confided in me that she was depressed. She told me that her feelings of depression had crept in slowly, and it took her some time to realize she needed a change. She started seeing a mental health counselor and is working on implementing some positive coping skills […]
When you were a child did you hear the words, “children are to be seen and not heard?” Were you allowed to express your feelings such as sadness or anger, or were you expected to be happy and perfect at all times? As I sit here and think about my childhood, I remember having to behave a certain […]
You can have anything in life, if you will sacrifice everything for it. –J.M. Barrie What are you willing to sacrifice for the sake of being nice? Have you ever read the definition of nice? Synonyms include pleasant, agreeable, satisfactory and polite. Oh dear, is that really how you want to live your life? Voltaire was […]
As an injury-prone person, I’m often amazed by (and appreciative of) my body’s ability to heal. Our bodies are filled with white blood-cells that constantly battle sickness, and our bodily tissues are always standing at the ready to repair any structural damage we might incur. But, not only are our bodies geared towards healing, so […]
“Loving ourselves through the process of owning our story is the bravest thing we’ll ever do.” Brene Brown In their article “The journey of a lifetime: Group work with young women who have experienced sexual assault,” narrative therapists Lisa McPhie and Chris Chaffey explain the process they used to give witness to the stories of […]
Oh, boundaries! There is so much I could say about them, when I think back over my life from now to my first memories. There are family members I learned excellent boundaries from while growing up, and others who, as my friend affectionately says, “wouldn’t know a boundary if it jumped up and hit them […]
I recently read a quote online that went something like this: I don’t set a boundary to offend you. I do it to manage the goals and priorities I have set for my life. Reading this quote took me back many years to the beginning of grad school. One of my professors told us that our […]
“Until one has loved an animal, a part of one’s soul remains unawakened. ” – Anatole France We Americans adore our pets. We see them as treasured members of the family and treat them accordingly (right, Gizmo and Petey?). We name them after characters in movies, take them on family vacations, and even dress them up on Halloween.
