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Pain management
“Don’t allow your wounds to transform you into something you are not.” ~Paulo Coehlo It’s easy to let our anger, sadness, or disappointment get the better of us at times. We’re only human. But some folks define themselves by their misfortune. They wear their emotional wounds like a badge of honor and seize every opportunity to throw a pity party. Nobody travels through this life without getting hurt, losing people they love, losing opportunities, and suffering trauma. Sometimes we lose faith in ourselves or others, or we lose our way and have to work harder to find our way back. But we can choose to grow from painful experiences or…
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Funny Friday ~ “Astrology”
“I don’t believe in astrology. I am a Sagittarius and we’re very skeptical.” ~Arthur C. Clarke
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Seek the life force
“There is a force within that gives you life. Seek that. Ignore those who make you fearful and sad.” ~Rumi In the early days of the pandemic, there wasn’t much to do besides hang out at home and follow all the bad news on TV or online. More than ever, the country was steeped in viral fear, coronavirus body counts, political turmoil, and partisan anger. It took a huge toll on everyone, impacting our collective mental health as well as our personal relationships. Every crisis survivor will tell you that you can’t walk the road to recovery without believing that something better is entirely possible. A stubborn, negative attitude will only get you…
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Big cheers for “Barbie”
“Barbie always represented the fact that a woman has choices.” ~Ruth Handler, creator of the Barbie doll Like many girls in the 1960s, I owned Mattel’s Barbie and Ken dolls and their vast miniature empire of accessories. The dolls inspired countless hours of creative play — and I’d even go so far as to say that Barbie influenced my writing career as well as my lifelong passion for shoes and clothing. Unlike other dolls of my era, Barbie had options beyond housekeeping and motherhood. The sky was the limit for Barbie. Don’t forget that Mattel launched Astronaut Barbie in 1965 — years before there was a real female in NASA’s…
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Be kind to yourself
“I dreamed I called you on the telephone to say: Be kinder to yourself.” ~Adrienne Rich, poet and essayist In her hit song, “Harshest Critic,” Allison Ponthier asks: “Why is ‘being good to myself’ for someone else?” and “Who’s the harshest critic in the room?” I think we all know the answer. Most of us are incredibly hard on ourselves. On one hand, constructive self-criticism can be helpful at times (though a true narcissist would disagree). Most of us learn from our mistakes or oversights when we’re willing to admit them and repair the damages. We can grow from the soil of what went wrong. But if we get stuck…
