Every day at 9 am, the alarm goes off on my watch reminding me to clean the kitchen. I pause the alarm, telling myself that I will do it later. Later never comes. In fact, I turn off most of my alarms during the day that remind me to put in a load of laundry … Continue Reading
In one of my previous jobs, I had frequented psychiatric wards, high-level group homes, and institutional settings that housed the people on the fringes of our society. Many of these souls had lost their voice to a system that saw them as nothing but numbers and diagnoses in a system largely devoid of grace. The … Continue Reading
The healing of our most painful experiences often needs to happen in small parts. Part 1 of this article talked about understanding, and potentially using, our difficult emotions. This discussion is about the consequences of unresolved emotions and how to transform them to bring us closer to wholeness and optimal health. We previously mentioned how … Continue Reading
Ah, emotions. The thing that colors our thoughts and gives our life meaning. The fuel that drives our decisions, desires, and impulses. The primal precursor to those pesky feelings. Whether we judge them as “good” or “bad”, each emotion serves a purpose. Whether or not we believe in a higher purpose behind everyday happenings, every … Continue Reading
My son, Michael, was diagnosed with autism when he was 17 years old. For years, I had that nagging feeling that something wasn’t quite right, but I didn’t know who to go to with my concerns. Michael used to come home from school every day and draw a map of the state of Minnesota by … Continue Reading
If the first thing you do in the morning is eat a live frog, you can go through the rest of the day knowing the worst is behind you. Mark Twain When you go after hard problems like free will, sooner or later you’ll have to swallow something nasty. The worst thing you will have … Continue Reading
Addiction; Predator and Prey When an eagle seizes a salmon too heavy to carry yet its talons cannot release it, they both plummet. The predator becomes prey of the sea. My dearest friend lost her 39 year old son in this epidemic of poisonings with the contaminant Fentanyl. He was addicted to heroin; with compulsions, lack … Continue Reading
Grief. Anxiety. Main ingredients in the cuisine of human suffering. How much of our collective energy is focused on eliminating or understanding these primary fears? Scientists, thinkers, artists, healers, and anyone seeking to better understand these shadow parts of our psyche have offered innumerable ideas, songs, medicines, and rituals in an attempt to solve, or … Continue Reading
Outcast. Bi-Polar. Crazy. Schizo. Anti-social. Disabled. Broken. Delusional. Words. How powerful. And equally sinister. It’s no wonder that we call the act of constructing words SPELL-ing. Language is truly a spell – an incantation that controls virtually every aspect of life, from media to politics to everyday interactions. The world of mental health is no … Continue Reading