Doing Life Together

Our familiarity with the quote, “Beware the Ides of March,” comes from the Shakespeare play, Julius Caesar. In the play, the soothsayer warns Caesar of his assassination that will take place on the Ides of March (March 15). True to the warning, Caesar’s is stabbed by his friend Brutus who has joined the conspiracy against…

When I do resiliency training, we do a short exercise. I put two chairs in the front of the room. Each chair represents a different outlook. One is a positive outlook, the other is negative. Then I give a series of challenges and ask the person seated in a chair to respond to those challenges…

Recently, I saw a headline in The Chronicle of Higher Education that said, “Everyone is talking about belonging: What does it really mean?” Good question, what does it mean and how do you achieve it? Curious, I read on. I learned a few things: 1) Belonging is such a key focus right now on college…

As we embrace this Lenten season,  we realize that as Christians, we are not exempt from the natural causes of a fallen world or the progression of a poor environment or bad habits. Pain and suffering are consequences of the Fall. Our world is full of disease, illness, violence, abuse, and all sorts of pain.…

This week is National Eating Disorders Awareness Week (NEDA). I spent most of my clinical practice treating women and men with eating disorders so am very familiar with the struggles involved in getting help. It is a hard psychiatric condition from which to break free. And the impact on a person’s physical, emotional, relational and…

  A professor at a medical school was giving a lecture on nutrition and food. A few medical students were very upset that the lecture mentioned the word “food” several times. They believed that the word, “food,” should have had a trigger warning before the lecture began. The reason given was that students with eating…

We all know someone who has struggled with depression. Or maybe that is you!  No matter. Everyone needs help now and then. Because  I often get asked, how do I help someone who is depressed, here are 10 ways to help a friend who is depressed. Don’t be afraid to talk about how the person…

Chocolate, love and romance are part of our Valentine celebration. As I stare at my heart shaped Valentine box full of chocolates, there are enough pieces to last me a month. Every day, I can choose one of those mystery pieces and be reminded of my husband’s love. Biting into one chocolate activates my senses.…

Happy Valentine’s Day! Once a year on Valentine’s Day we celebrate love, but should we think more about celebrating love all year long?  Now, don’t get me wrong, it’s great to have a day to focus on those special people in our lives. Most of us will make dinner reservations, buy cards and gifts to…

For years, my husband was the executive producer of a national Christian television show. The network hosted well-known television personalities, mostly ministers of large churches and organizations and Christian “celebrities.” He used to tell me how the talent, the guests, behaved in the Green Room before they walked on to the television set. The Green…

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