To travel means, ultimately, nothing more than coming back home a different person from the one who left.            Pico Iyer I grew up on a cul-de-sac (see above), defined as a blind alley closed at one end.  As a street design when I was a kid, it was glorious.  As...Read More

Self-control is the chief element in self-respect, and self-respect is the chief element in courage.  Thucydides 460 B.C-395 B.C. Much has been said about fake optimism and that stupid yellow smiley face a year into this pandemic. It is not healthy for us to deny what’s really true for us and stuffing feelings is the...Read More

For many people, holidays bring up a wide range of old and new emotional pain.  One client of mine is spending time with a relative in active addiction; another is facing a belligerent parent.   It can be helpful to have some tools at-the-ready when dealing with our most difficult family members.  Rather than avoid, attack...Read More

“We don’t absorb the energy of others, we match it.    Wayne Dyer   I’ve written about emotional vampires before: those people around us that are victims, know-it-alls, or complainers. Lately, my thinking on how to best deal with these people has evolved. If we feel drained after interacting with one of these types, it’s...Read More

I’ve been devouring the writings of Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius (A.D. 120-180), a practitioner of a practical philosophy called Stoicism. Ancient Stoics sought to accept the things that were given to them in life and to not be controlled by destructive emotions and difficult people.  I’ve culled some astonishing wisdom from his diary, and even...Read More

Nothing Ever Becomes Real Until it is Experienced.  John Keats There are several forms of emotional vampires (narcissists, victims, controllers, etc.) who go far beyond aggravating you and have a way of drawing you in and then draining you.  Vampires are different and more dangerous than other annoying people, but they have important commonalities.  Generally, their...Read More