We are entering December which means that the year is coming to a close. Going back over the months is hard. So much happens in a year. One cannot digest it all. If you keep a journal, you could review your entries and travel through the year again. If you keep a calendar, you could review it and see what
Anger is a normal emotion. At the same time, this emotion can be very confusing and, at times, dangerous. Different theorists have proposed a range of primary emotions. Before we dive into that, I want to challenge you to list your sense of the primary emotions for a human being. What do you think are the basic, hard-wired emotions? Emotions
Change is an interesting topic. Change comes in all shapes and sizes. A group that I belong to is thinking of changing its dues. A family member has changed jobs. A child has gone off to college with all the myriad changes that come along with that. My body is changing as I grow older. The people in my old
I do not know where you live, but things do not seem right when I look at the weather map. On the East Coast, the leaves on the trees have turned beautiful colors, but the temperatures have not fallen as they should in the fall. I am not saying we could sunbathe, but there has been no fire in the
In November, everyone gears up for Thanksgiving. Some tables are pretty small with an immediate family only. Some tables are large with extended family and friends. Some tables are enormous, and family, friends, neighbors, and even strangers are found along the way. Regardless of your table, the day is intended to bring people together. I hope your table will honor
Ok, I did not participate in high school wrestling, but my brother did, and our house was the place other team members hung out. Watching them spit into a can to make weight for the next day was gross. Now, why am I going back decades to this lovely little vignette? Social media, of course! I got a call today
A recent pop quiz that jumped into my Inbox showed a picture of a stack of biscuits, and immediately, I remembered my grandmother making biscuits and gravy for breakfast. What a throwback! Her kitchen was huge, probably the biggest room in the house. Of course, her family was huge, too. All those hands were needed for working the farm, and
Research is consistent about this across all studies. Boys come into the world with a broader range of emotional expressions than girls. So, why would there be a sex difference? Think about this. People are people, correct? Of course, there are sexual differences, and this is how the species survives. But why would this emotional distinction exist? The research on
What could this possibly mean? I am surrounded by nature. Even in the concrete depths of the city, nature abounds: birds in the park, bugs on the screens, rats in the sewers…. Oh, and tons and tons of people! Nature is inescapable. The mice that find their way into the kitchen are a part of nature. The squirrels that ravage
A friend of mine recently described the life of a woman as a three-act play. Act 1 is childhood where your fathers and mothers guide you to understand your role in life as a female. Act 2 is adulthood, where you begin to live out the training, get challenged, and modify the path or not. Act 3 is retirement, where
