"If, as a culture, we don’t bear witness to grief, the burden of loss is placed entirely upon the bereaved, while the rest of us avert our eyes and wait for those in mourning to stop being sad, to let go, to move on, to cheer up. And if they don’t — if they have loved too deeply, if they do wake each morning thinking, I cannot continue to live — well, then we pathologize their pain; we call their … [Read more...]
Managing Depression: 13 Lifestyle Changes That Heal
“Mental pain is less dramatic than physical pain, but it is more common and also harder to bear. The frequent attempt to conceal mental pain increases the burden: it is easier to say “My tooth is aching” than to say “My heart is broken.” ― C.S. Lewis, The Problem of Pain I'll preface this article by saying you won't find anything new about depression in here. No miracle cure, no breakthrough … [Read more...]
Why Facing Your Biggest Fear Will Be Your Greatest Breakthrough
When my ex-husband and I separated a few years ago my biggest fear was loneliness. Push me out of a plane (parachute attached of course); dangle me from a 2,000 ft tall building (knock me out first), but please God don't let me be alone. It seems God is messing with me though, because here I am, facing my worst fear, the one I've spent a lifetime avoiding. Don't we always eventually come … [Read more...]
How to Make Peace with your Body
**Disclaimer: this article is not intended for persons dealing with eating disorders.** I've struggled with my body image since the age of 10. Whether I've actually been overweight or, in the eyes of the world, "skinny," my self-perception has always been fat...fat...fat. I think I've actually been called "fat" only once. I was about twelve and it stung like nothing had ever stung before. No … [Read more...]
10 Ways To Ease Depression With Only Your Pen
"Ring the bells that still can ring. Forget your perfect offering. There is a crack, a crack in everything. That's how the light gets in." — Leonard Cohen. One of my struggles since childhood has been with depression. From as early as I can remember I wondered why my school friends found it so easy to just be a kid, while I could only seem to observe their laughter from the fringes, surrounded … [Read more...]
Need a New Perspective on Stress this Holiday Season?
For decades we've been told this one thing: stress makes you sick. How many times, when you've been knee-deep in tension, anxiety and all-around exhaustion, have you made it all worse by then adding the thought that if you don't get a hold of yourself you may wind up in your doctor's office, or worse still, the hospital? The possibility of making ourselves "stress sick" is really the last … [Read more...]