(NOTE: I realized recently that the author of this post is unspecified, and some people have thought it is me. To be clear, this is a letter sent to me by someone who took my classes, and I thought I had commented that it was my “first guest post”, but clearly I didn’t here. Sorry…
Category: c) Trauma & healing
34) Less than half, and none of the important ones: Part 4
What are the solutions? Obviously, “get help”. But that’s kind of a cop-out. It’s not like therapists have a magic wand, and then, Healioso Instantantum!!, and Poof, you’re all better. Therapy isn’t magic. It’s hard work. A therapist is like a catalyst; they catalyze your own self-healing. But they can’t do it for you. So…
33) Less than half, and none of the important ones: Part 3
Another story, after a relationship ended. “She said she had made a list of all the qualities she wanted in a partner. At the end, she concluded, “he has less than half. And none of the important ones.” ……this was the end of my sanity, for a long time. I don’t know why. I just…
32) Less than half, and none of the important ones: Part 2
Imagine a child who is criticized, constantly. Long-term. Made fun of, humiliated, shamed in front of others. “Why can’t you do anything right?” “Goddammit, you’re useless!” “Shut up….you little shit.” They hear that they are stupid, ugly, pathetic, annoying, too loud, too quiet, too lazy, too….x,y,z…. As a psychologist and teacher, I encounter a lot…
31) Less than half, and none of the important ones: Part 1
Have you ever been on the receiving end of someone’s harshness? Criticism? Gas-lighting? Name-calling? Bullying? Shaming? Humiliating? Lying? Well, “sticks and stones may break your bones but words….” Just stop. Right there. Because “words can never hurt you” is absolute, dangerous, bullshit. Words can break your heart, poison your mind, even destroy your life. They…
9) Stop trying to hit me. And hit me!
I love the ‘training montage’ moments in movies. Like martial arts movies, when the hero gets his (or, very rarely, her) butt kicked. Hard. Leaving the hero practically dead, washed up, hopeless, beaten and broken. Then some kind person helps the hero, nursing her back to health. And then, training montage time! That’s when all…
c) Trauma & healing, d) Saving the World: Environmental and other Challenges of this Age of Humanity
6) Something Positive
Well, that took more than half a year. Hehe….not exactly how you start a successful blog eh? So, here’s what happened. Depression. It turns out that staring into the abyss of society’s escalation into madness, without knowing how to make a meaningful difference, gets depressing! Who knew? So, this is about Something Positive. Here’s what…
3) Unicorns, migraines, and chiropractors
I don’t believe in unicorns. I’d like to though. I mean, wouldn’t you? A world of magic, in which reality isn’t just dead matter heading towards thermodynamic equilibrium, is something I yearn for deeply, and have ever since I was that 5 year old, sitting on his blankie, willing it to fly, or that 10…
2) Hillel the Elder
If you asked me, earlier in my life, how I dealt with anger or anxiety, I would have been puzzled, and felt kind of sad for you. Anger? Anxiety? Sorry pal, those are your problems, not mine. Me, I’m super chills. Easy going. I enjoy life to the fullest! No regrets!! Just take it easy,…
1) I sentence you to be exposed before your peers!
I was going to give this blog a “wiser” sounding title. Something inspirational, growth-oriented, “positive”. Or something deep, maybe something from Lao Tzu. But you know, I’m not very wise, although I’m striving in that direction. I’m not very growth-oriented, or positive, either, much of the time, although I play that role for some people…