I don’t like to compartmentalize myself into a personality type, mostly because my personality is so incredibly hard to pin down. I am an introvert with extroverted tendencies, a cat and dog person, and both sociable and distant. I can go from hysterical laughter to tears in a matter of moments, and while I have […]

A few years ago I was watching an old documentary on YouTube featuring motivational speaker Louise Hay. She walked across the stage, turned to the studio audience, and asked them to take out the mirror that she had requested they bring along with them. With mirror in hand, the audience was then told to look […]

I believe quite strongly that nothing happens by chance. As Sherlock Holmes (Benedict Cumberbatch) once said about coincidence, “The universe is rarely so lazy.” I also firmly believe that our body is often a reflection of our feelings and personality. I once suggested to my brother that his, er, “musical body” (i.e. flatulence) was a […]

It was only recently that my brother, ever so reluctantly, joined Facebook for the first time. It was the cheapest way for us to stay in contact while he took on a job on the other end of the globe. Social media isn’t his thing. Brand names aren’t his thing. Mainstream television is not his […]

Imagine spending a month climbing a sacred mountain, in search of the wise guru who resides in a small monastery at the top. You stretch your hand over the final peak and, drained and exhausted, pull yourself over. You plod ahead, step by painful step, to the monastery doors, your body sore, your lips and […]

Let’s take a few minute to test what I like to call “social esteem,” which is basically my fancy way of saying your ability to handle rejection on social media: Test #1: You write what you feel is a brilliant, funny, or poignant post on Facebook or Twitter but it gets absolutely no likes/retweets. How […]

It’s hard for me to pin down the exact reason why I hate shopping. I think it’s a combination of the crowds, the lack of parking, the pushy salespeople, and the need to part with my hard-earned cash. Don’t mistake this for miserliness – I spend more on other people than I do on myself. […]

In last week’s blog, I began a discussion on the many downsides of rumination. It’s that oh-so-fun process of mentally turning a problem inside out and upside down in Cirque du Soleil fashion, with nothing to show for it except a string of sleepless nights, some bags under my eyes, and a wrinkle that wasn’t […]

I am a ruminator. Master level 99. I can take an innocent comment or minor situation and turn it inside out, upside down, take it down the street, around the corner, through the Bermuda Triangle and back. Here’s what happens to excessive ruminators like me: We over-analyze situations so pedantically that we make them a […]

I’ve never quite understood the dynamics of high school, at least not my personal experience. The people who were popular were cruel, two-faced, and hateful, and totally oblivious to the amount of damage that insults and ostracism could do to the self-esteem, the very spirit, of a young, naïve mind. Those, like me, who were […]

For some it’s coffee. For others it’s a vigorous workout. For most of us, however, a morning ritual consists of the simple matter of trying to find a reason to roll out of bed. We all have a higher self, whether you call it your soul, inner being, God, your conscience, consciousness or the universe. […]

It’s a question I often ask of myself. I have the luxury of having at least a few close friends and family members who I can talk to when I am going through a difficult time. I did so just last week – but I also found myself hesitating, my finger hovering over the call […]