How My Day Buying Wigs Reminded Me We Are All Beautiful
After waiting for my date to show up for nearly an hour, I returned to my car to leave. I’d been stood up. A common occurrence that it had never happened to me until now. It’d hurt more than I’d expected.
Read full storyHere's Why I Write: It Connects Me to the Rest of the World
I’ve been giving that question a lot of thought. Of course I’d love to see my name on a book’s spine. Yes, it would be great to stand at a podium and read a passage of mine. A big royalty check would be nice too.
Read full storyDeath is More than a Loss of Person: Its Steals Our Hope
A friend texted me this morning. Her mother died yesterday. I knew what that meant. Like her, this is a day I also fear. Relationships with family are rarely simple. Each person is not just a familiar presence but also occupies an important role. Mother is an archetype that embodies unconscious longing, needs, and wishes.
Read full storyMy Shocking Discovery as a 58-Year-Old Woman Psychologist that I'm Autistic
A few months ago, someone challenged a fundamental assumption I’d held about myself. This revelation has upended my world. Suddenly I feel wobbly, tentative, and not quite sure who I am.
Read full storyAs Minneapolis Settles with the Floyd Family: Have We Become a Better Country?
As city of Minneapolis agrees to pay the family of George Floyd's a settlement of $27 million dollar, I wondered if we've changed. If we have faced the horrible travesty of racial injustice.
Read full storyMy Relationship with My Mother is Strained, But I Wish it Wasn't
I watched the cars pass and the mile markers whip past my passenger window. I’m heading home after visiting my mom. Each second takes me farther away from my hometown and from her.
Read full storyDon't Ignore Your Gut Instinct, It Could Cost You Your Life!
Up to recently I hadn’t realized I had inadvertently blinded myself by ignoring an important and vital innate internal warning system, often known as our gut instinct or intuition. Most of us are familiar with it as that funny feeling we get in the pit of our stomach when something seems off or wrong.
Read full storyHow the Surprising Actions of a Stranger Changed My Life by Giving Me Hope
New to town and before COVID, I hated weekends. This is a new development. Until recently I used to love weekends. In fact, I couldn’t wait for them. You might even say, I lived for them.
Read full storyDo You Want to Help Someone Who's Hurting? Don't Do These 10 Things!
After having two immediate family members diagnosed with cancer, having survived widowhood, and now newly divorced, I suspect I’ve become the next “school of hard knocks” poster child. That if you look up the word suffering in Webster’s Dictionary you’d see my face.
Read full storyI Was Foolish Enough to Marry a Narcissist Once and Don't Want to Make That Mistake Again
Lately I can’t seem to avoid all the online chatter about narcissism. Everywhere I’m bombarded with blogs, articles, and videos on how to spot them, steps to take to avoid them, and all sorts of relationship advice on whether to stay or leave them.
Read full storyI Didn't Understand Why Wives Stayed Until It Happened to Me
We act as though their husband's difficulties is partly their fault. Have you noticed how little attention is given to partners and spouses of notorious cheaters? It’s as if they become an afterthought or maybe worse yet, an embarrassment.
Read full storyI Have a Beef: Why Can't We All Be More Accepting of Introverts?
And other common misconceptions about introversion. I have a pet peeve. One I rarely bring up since I prefer to grin and bear it, rather than to make a big issue out of it. Lately I’ve heard it said one too many times though, which means I need to deal with it. And quite honestly, it’s rude.
Read full storyMy Husband Died, and Then My Sons Stopped Talking To Me
We had been ill-prepared for death and it nearly cost me my family. No one tells you what to expect when an immediate family member dies. You’d think everyone would naturally come together to grieve. Pain, however, does odd things to relationships. Since no one likes to talk about losing a loved one, many of us ill-prepared for its occurrence. I did not know the loss of my husband would threaten our family.
Read full storyHow Being Bullied as a Kid Set Me For a Lifetime of Struggle
I was one of those kids who was bullied — the awkward, nerdy type. The kind that others couldn’t resist picking on. It didn’t matter if I stayed hunched down, slumped over, and stuck to the corners of life. Somewhere on me was a neon sign that must have read “kick me.” The bullies sure had some type of radar or sixth sense I was ripe for the picking.
Read full storyHow Dishonest Are You With Your Dates and Partners?
Why I think radical honesty is the best policy. I came across an interesting dating profile recently. The guy had swiped right on mine, so I stopped to read through his. His disclosures made me pause. Along with a few close-ups of himself, he’d written a brief description, including his blunt preferences. Listed at the bottom was this sentence, “I have transmittable disease. If that a problem for you, please pass on by.”
Read full storyHow the COVID-19 Crisis Is Helping My Broken Family Heal
This pandemic has had a profound effect on my life. All of our lives. Many of them severe. Loss of income, limited contact with friends and family, difficulty balancing family and work-life are just a few of the more serious repercussions. I know people whose loved ones have died from COVID-19.
Read full storyI Forgot to Value My Peace of Mind: The High Cost of Abuse
A young woman posted before and after photos of herself taken a few months apart. In the first image, she looked worried. Stressed. Her expression was tense. You could see the tight lines around her mouth and eyes.
Read full storyHow Did 5 Specialists Fail to See My Son's Autism?
Despite being a psychologist, I had a poor understanding of autism. My stereotypical views of its presentation now embarrass me. Developmental psychology wasn’t my specialty, and during my schooling, our knowledge of this condition was in its infancy. I thought autistic children were mute and locked within their interior world. I thought they avoided eye contact, rejected physical touch, preferred to rock their bodies, and twirled toys and blocks.
Read full storyA Mother's Pain: My Sons Are Fatherless and I Can't do a Thing About It
No one likes to talk about what it’s like to lose a spouse. That kind of loss is catastrophic. The worst part of being a widow is watching my sons navigate the world without a father.
Read full storyBeen Catfished Lately? I Have. Why Aren't We Talking about the Growing Problem of Romance Scams?
Why aren’t we talking about the exploding number of fake online dating profiles?. There’s a dirty little secret that most people either don’t know about or aren’t discussing. It is the number of fake profiles that clog up our social media accounts. Since moving to Austin, Texas, I have reopened my online dating accounts, and once again, I’ve been hit with an avalanche of fraudulent profiles. These are scammers who say they live in my surrounding area. Once we start chatting, it quickly becomes apparent that they are not in Austin, not even in Texas. There is nothing local about them.
Read full story