September is Suicide Prevention Month, and yet yesterday in the news I read of another death by suicide. This grieves my heart. In Western culture, we have a low tolerance for pain. We live in a world of instant gratification. We have a headache, and we pop an ibuprofen. Sinus pressure — no worries, there’s a med for that too. Something happens to our psyche…
“For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven” Ecclesiastes 3:1. A couple of days ago it came…an invitation to subscribe to Reminisce Magazine. For those that aren’t familiar with this magazine, it’s tagline is “Reminisce is a spirited celebration of America’s stories with readers’ own personal memories, cherished traditions, photos and family recipes…Whether recalling their struggles on the home front, the thrill…
Mary curled her baby sister into her chest as she turned her into the well wall, sheltering them from the stones being hurled at them from outside. She had just watched her parents brutally killed with machetes. “I will never forget the fear I felt as one of my captors slid down a rope into the well with us. It was then that reality was…
As I packed up my home of 17 to years to relocate, I realized just how much stuff I had accumulated over the years. I knew I had some clutter, but I wasn’t a pack rat — was I? In psychology, we talk about the Johari Window. The window allows us to recognize that we all have blindspots. Sometimes others see what we fail to…
Three days ago, I sat with my grandmother who was struggling to find peace. She wanted to talk but couldn’t. I tried singing with her, and she’d say, “Let me sing. Let me sing.” She then quickly got frustrated because her mouth would not cooperate. She was getting restless when I said, “Grandma, this Sunday is Easter. Let’s read the Easter story.” I then picked…
While millions of people suffer with bipolar disorder, there are even more struggling because they want to help, but don’t know how. I wish had a simple formula, a list of do’s and don’t’s to give you, but sadly there is not an easy answer. Several years ago, I wrote When Someone You Love is Manic to offer some suggestions for people who want to help…