Lately, I’ve been talking to people about this idea of dealing with the past. For me, the topic is coming up a lot because in the last few months, my writing has gravitated towards memoir. I’m surprised how charged the subject of the past is for some people. Read more….. »
Seeing humanity
It’s easy to forget the humanity of the people around me, how interconnected I am to everyone I encounter. Mind you, it’s not intentional. But at times, when I am absorbed in my own agenda and plans, thinking whatever it is on my mind is paramount, then the people who surround me become incidental. It’s not intentional meanness on my part. But I seem to forget about Read more….. »
“Why Good People do Bad Things”
Scandals are full of them. Gossip tries to root them out. There are so many stories of good people going bad it is almost a stereotype. It’s as old as Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, if not older. Even so, it can still be a shocker to someone when a person of honor suddenly falls into some trap of vice. Maybe even more so if that someone is one’s self. Read more….. »
How to deal with anniversaries of tragic loss
Dealing with loss is difficult. I know this from my own life. The stress from the impact was tremendous, and to say it altered my perspective on life would be an understatement. So, when it comes to anniversaries of tragedies, I speak mostly from my own experience with the subject. Read more….. »
“The Grieving Teen”
Experiencing the death of someone is always a tough time in a person’s life. Teenagers, oft touted as thinking they are invincible, and unshaped by life, have special struggles that tend to be overlooked, written off as adolescent angst. But death does have an impact on this cohort. With the twin tragedies of September 11 and the overseas wars on top of all the other circumstances of death, this issue seems timely and relevant. Author Helen Fitzgerald has written “The Grieving Teen”, which is a handbook for both grieving teens and those who are concerned about them.
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“A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius”
Grief is supposed to come in a neat package. You can’t believe something bad happened to you, you get ticked off, you wail at God to change things so they go back to normal, they don’t so you get sad, really sad, and when the sadness gets too boring you get over it and then it’s all good. Or at least, the so-called five stages of grief give the deceptive illusion it goes so smoothly. Read more….. »
“Finding Flow”
Get into the groove and just enjoy the ride. Sounds like a great deal if you can get it. In fact, says psychology professor Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, if you want to really feel good about your life, then getting into the flow is a real requirement. In his book, “Finding Flow”, he discusses what it means to get into the flow and what it will mean for your life if you do. Read more….. »
“Half the Sky”
The condition of the developing world usually gets strange treatment in the media of the developed one. Read more….. »
“Blue Gold”
There is no question that providing fresh water for a population that is growing in not only numbers but civilization is a pressing problem in the twenty-first century. What are the best means to provide this precious resource to the masses? Read more….. »
“After the Ice”
When discussing how the Arctic is in peril, it seems the polar bear gets all the attention. The predator of the North may be in trouble, but that is not the only thing that is at stake. Read more….. »
“Blue Zones”
If you could live a healthful, active life into your nineties or even beyond, would you want to know how? Creating a formula for a successful trajectory into the later years seems more than taking a magic pill. Read more….. »
“The High Price of Materialism”
Money can’t buy us happiness, we are told. And yet, the culture of consumerism that we find ourselves residing in tells us otherwise. This sets up a contradiction that is bound to make most of us miserable. So says psychology professor Tim Kasser in his short book, “The High Price of Materialism”. Read more….. »
“Gone Tomorrow”
It is easy to live with the delusion that when something is discarded it somehow magically disappears from the world. Obviously it does not, but not many people are willing to delve into the next stage of the life of detritus. So, where does the trash go when we have divorced it from our lives? Heather Rogers explores this question in her book, “Gone Tomorrow”. Read more….. »