I’m no longer a daughter. Losing one’s mother is one of life’s big transitions. As she taught me in life, she has also taught me through her death. Being patient: with myself and my grieving process. with all the numerous details to be dealt with when someone leaves this world. with all the complications that […]
Have you ever thought about whether aggression is innate? This morning I watched the hummingbirds around my feeders and was fascinated by their behavior! Because I knew they were very territorial, I had decided to put a second feeder in so that more birds could share in the wealth. One female hummingbird totally dominated both […]
I recently became a grandma for the first time! Spending time with my daughter and new grandchild has been wonderful. It has slowed down my writing, but the rewards are worth it. This experience has led me to contemplate afresh what happens when we start anything new. No matter how much we want something, it […]
In an ideal world, all of our experiences growing up would be positive. Our family members would unfailingly give affirming messages about ourselves, ones that told us we were worthy of love. This kind of treatment would get internalized as positive beliefs and thoughts, such as “I’m a good person” or “I’m love-able”. Unfortunately, our […]
We bond with whatever we experience in our childhood, whether that is positive or negative. Receiving support and encouragement as a child increases self-esteem and confidence. Receiving criticism and negativity reduces those same characteristics. The messages you heard as a child influenced the ways you saw yourself and the world in general. What are the […]
Assertiveness is not a personality trait but rather a learned set of behaviors. Assertive behavior expresses what we think and feel in ways that are respectful to others. If we have not grown up with assertive models to learn from, we may not know how to be assertive or even feel we have that right. […]
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