My father had Alzheimer’s, so whenever I hear about anything to do with degenerative brain function, I tend to listen. This morning I spent an enjoyable half hour listening to an archived radio broadcast a friend had sent me the link to. The show was an edition of the CBC’s Quirks and Quarks, and featured [...]

It is a common desire to seek out the like-minded or similarly situated in society.  It gives us greater joy to share our passions with those who share them – consider a book club, or a professional association.  And in times of strife, we find comfort in those who understand our misery.      One of [...]

Intimacy is important to our well-being.  I’m not just talking about sexual intimacy…although that can be an important type of intimacy.  I’m talking about the freedom to share what is in your heart and mind with another person.  Intimacy includes the vulnerability of honest conversation; the physical accessibility of two people able and willing to [...]

I’m lucky to have a truly wonderful man in my life right now, but my happiness can be hard to take for a friend of mine who is not in quite the same place.  When she admitted her slight feelings of jealousy and frustration to another friend, he suggested that when she was ready for [...]

I learned about the healing power of compassion during a period in my life when I was hopelessly unhappy in my job.  For various reasons, changing jobs was not an option so I stayed put, but I decided to add another element to my life that could give me satisfaction.  Around that time I happened [...]

“Stop whistling those dirty songs” said my English teacher in college, as a way of demonstrating to the class how powerful suggestion can be.  Now, of course a tune can’t really be dirty, but if the listener recognizes the tune and remembers the lyrics that go with it, they can certainly choose to be insulted.  [...]

Since I was six years old, I’ve suffered through the experience of getting migraines.  Over the years I’ve learned to avoid many of them, but when one hits I’m faced with the decision of how to deal with it.  I used to lock myself in a dark room with a cold cloth and lots of [...]

There are, indeed, three C’s in the word “acceptance”, but those aren’t the C’s I’m referring to. We who love or have loved an alcoholic want so much for their health and happiness that when bad behavior occurs, we almost forget that they are sick.  If your child had a temperature of 101, would you [...]

One of the characters from Amy Tan’s book, Saving Fish From Drowning, informs the reader “I hid my deepest feelings so well I forgot where I had placed them”. We’ve all been there.  In the midst of survival mode, the dial on emotions seems best kept in the “off” position.  When I was in crisis I rarely [...]