One of my few childhood memories is from when I was probably not quite three years old. We were on some sort of family outing, walking through a park in New York. We reached a spot where the path led to a green area. I took a closer look at what had initially appeared to […]
Transformations: Loss, Hope, Succeed at Last Read More »
Growing up I wondered if everyone has a constant musical backbeat playing in their heads like I do, a DJ who never takes a day off, always keeping me company. I rather enjoy the accompaniment, and rarely have a complaint about the choice of songs. Interestingly, the sense of hearing is one of the earliest
Winds and Change: Sound, Tempest, Hope Read More »
I rarely work with eating disorders, if I can help it. My own history was so painful, shame-ridden and protracted, that I fear I will not have the patience or sufficient compassion to bear witness to its agonies. In my long life, I have seen progression in the larger world of food fads, diet and
Losing and Winning: Trauma, Flight, Mysteries Read More »
When I asked one of my esteemed colleagues at the Transform Trauma Oxford 2025 Conference if he would be in the Bay Area (where I live) any time soon, he said he goes there quite often, to go to Laguna Seca, the local racetrack. His son is a race car driver. I was duly intrigued.
Zero to 70: Oxford, Time, Justice Read More »
Certain words I have torn out of my personal lexicon and just tossed. One of those is “stuck.” It is not allowed in my office either. True, sometimes progress is so slow as to be frustratingly imperceptible, but I don’t believe it has stopped and is certainly not cause for giving up. I was
Stalled but Not “Stuck” – Slogging, Baking and Care Read More »
As a devout listener to BBC, I got an earful of the recent coronation event. Monarchy is something I so rarely think about, apart from the recent death of Queen Elizabeth, which similarly took over a day of BBC coverage. From the endless memorial feed, my mind somehow floated back to junior high school European
Ambiguities: Harm, Responsibility, Peace Read More »
Throughout this year’s Refugee Week (June 19 – 25) we commemorate the strength, courage and perseverance of millions of refugees. In honor of this week and of Refugee Day (June 20) I have written the following blog. A few early mornings ago, I heard an interview with a scientist, expert in soil. The interviewer asked her,
Cousins: Colors, Screens, Immigrants and Refugees Read More »
As we all know far too well, trauma activation is redundant, miserable, and exhausting. I avoid the word “triggering,” because it summons the imagery of gun violence, (although activations certainly can feel that violently jarring and even lethal,) but also because the word is used is too loosely in popular discourse. It can lose its
Learning From Experience Re-Experiencing, George Floyd, Breath Read More »
In my morning workout, I was swept out of my usual reverie by a vocal. Most of the time my Pandora musical feed keeps me happy and in rhythm with instrumental music. My station is a mix of contemporary/jazz/Spanish guitar which for me is just right. At first, I was annoyed, it was a slowish
Dilemma Finds Solution A Song, The Quandary, A Team Read More »
Way back in the middle 1970s, I cooked in a restaurant. I was a pretty good cook, having had the dubious distinction of being the only one who could be in the kitchen when Dad was doing his cyclone-like chef act. Dad had learned to cook by “stealing with his eyes”, as he said, watching
Mushroom Soup: Loss, Harry, Gratitude Read More »