“It doesn’t matter what you eat if you don’t include who is eating – body, mind and soul. Your whole self matters.” Tery Mosey, The Hidden Messages in Food If you operate on autopilot in many of your social interactions, you’re definitely from this planet. You must therefore have a shiny collection of time-tested, safe, …
The Power of Language in Self-Discovery
“He gave man speech, and speech created thought, Which is the measure of the universe.” P. B. Shelley, Prometheus Unbound I’ll never forget the day when I, a 26-year-old woman with wavy hair flowing past my mid-back, sat on the lady barber’s chair and asked her to shave off my hair, à la Kojak (to …
Controlling Parents – Reclaiming Unconditional Love
“How we feel about our kids isn’t as important as how they experience those feelings and how they regard the way we treat them.” Alfie Kohn, Unconditional Parenting “I don’t have any regrets.” Some people make this remark, more often than not with an air of absolute certainty and self-sufficiency as if they belonged to …
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Adult Child Estrangement: Living With the Pain
“If your kids are unable to see you as worthy of love, acceptance, and forgiveness, then you have to find redemption in that small crack in the continuum of catastrophe, as Walter Benjamin put it.” James Coleman, Rules of Engagement “So, how’s your daughter doing?” I asked my new acquaintance behind the wheel of her …
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A Leap of Faith
“I've got a magic charmThat I keep up my sleeve,I can walk the ocean floorAnd never have to breathe,” “Life Doesn’t Frighten Me” by Maya Angelou “Should I do this or not?” Tell me you didn’t ask yourself this question when it came to buying a house, having a child, getting married or divorced, accepting …
Playing the Game of Marriage
Francis and Margot Macomber seem to be a happy couple: young, good-looking, famous, rich, envied and admired. Except they’re not what they seem to be. Their marriage is riddled with crises (he drinks, she has affairs), yet they remain stuck with each other for 11 years as they have believe they have a solid realtionship: …
The Art of Suffering for Nothing
"One of the hardest expressions of self-assertiveness is challenging your liniting beliefs." Nathaniel Branden, The Six Pillars of Self-Esteem "Would you eat a worm? Or press the button and shock yourself?" You probably wouldn't expect to be asked such bizarre questions – but how would you answer anyway? If you say, "I'd never do that," …
The Labyrinth of Loneliness
Late in the evening, a woman sits at a table in an empty restaurant, staring into her cup of coffee. Behind her is a window as large as a wall through which one sees nothing of the city’s life. This black rectangle intensely reflects two rows of ceiling lamps. Edward Hopper’s painting “Automat” (1927) conveys …
