Awakening to Privilege
Against the Grain I furtively slipped the letter onto Rose’s desk just as the class was heading out to recess. I immediately heard a tinny voice from behind me ask, “What’s that?” Oh, dear God, it was Janey. My face flushed hot and I mumbled, “Nothing.” But Janey...
6 Ways to Honor Your Inner Child
“Waaah, I don’t want to!” “It’s not fair!” “You can’t make me!” Three months into this pandemic and some of us are really starting to sound like whiney children. Truth be told, we’ve ALL felt like whiney children at times. Our world has been turned upside down....
7 Tips for Black Sheep
You feel like an alien amongst your family. They criticize and ridicule you. They constantly misunderstand your intentions or perspective. You shrink down to a tiny, awkward version of yourself whenever you’re in their presence. You avoid being around them. You don’t...
How The Truman Show Helps Me Find Hope During Pandemic
Life During Pandemic “It feels like we’re on The Truman Show; like we’ve been convinced to stay home so they can make repairs to the sky dome,” observed my 16-year-old son. If you haven’t seen The Truman Show, it’s a movie about a guy whose entire life is broadcast...
An Extrovert’s Guide to Surviving Quarantine
Being alone is hard for anyone when there's no other option available. Loneliness is painful and debilitating. It's even worse for extroverts who thrive on face to face interaction with others. My heart goes out to you as I know quarantine is a special kind of torture...
Healing with Bat Medicine
Greed, selfishness, ignorance, bigotry, misogyny, xenophobia, materialism, artifice, and industrialism have dominated our world culture for centuries. We’ve been out of balance. This is evident in the climate crisis, cancer rates, the massive number of people...
Use Your Body Take Care of Your Mind
Raise your hand if your primary method of self-care these last couple of weeks has been weeping into your wine glass and curling into the fetal position while binge watching The Walking Dead. You’re not alone. The apocalyptic mayhem unleashed by COVID-19 has us all a...
Thwarted by the Coronavirus
My original plan for this post was to write about how people we can’t stand are often our greatest teachers. However, like most plans lately, that was thwarted by the coronavirus. It seems more pertinent to discuss current events. It seems the collective crisis is now...
How to Cope with Panic
Your heart is racing, you’re sweating, it’s difficult to breathe, your limbs are numb and sharp pains are shooting through your chest. A horrifying sense of dread takes over and you’re certain you’re going to die. You’re not having a heart attack. You’re having a...
What Is Mercury Retrograde, Anyway?
You’re looking for an email that somehow disappeared from your inbox. Your flight is canceled. The deal you’ve been working on for months suddenly falls through. What the hell is going on? “Mercury retrograde!” Say, what? If you run in New Age circles or live in...
Healing The Mother Wound
“My mother is my best friend, I can rely on her for anything. She knows me better than anyone and is always present and supportive.” Does this statement make you want to puke? Do you have an entirely different experience with your mother? When you think about your...
Your Body Knows What Your Mind Ignores
Having trouble sleeping? Struggling with physical intimacy? Do you often feel sick and/or tired? Do you cringe when someone touches you unexpectedly? Your body may be reacting to unhealed trauma. Before you shrug and assume this doesn't apply to you, be aware that...