Trauma and Neglect

The blog includes articles I have written over the last few years, as well as a weekly post where I share what’s on my mind, even if it’s an undeveloped idea that popped up when I was stirring a vat of cheese!

“Scare-City”: Hunger, Grief, Regulation

People sometimes ask me, “How do you come up with something to write about every week?” I used to wonder the same thing about local treasure Willie Brown, whose weekly column was

Ambiguities: Harm, Responsibility, Peace

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

What Do You Know? Encyclopedias, Know it All, Learning to Learn

When I was growing up, there was no internet, no Google. There were encyclopedias. I remember a three-tier caste system of them: the most expensive and most sophisticated was the Britannica. The

Cousins: Colors, Screens, Immigrants and Refugees

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

Imaginary Friends: Hero Worship, Compulsivity, Equanimity

Like most any child of neglect, I was a desperately lonely little girl. Convinced I was hopelessly weird, probably of some other unidentified nonhuman species and categorically unlikeable, I peopled my world

Profiles In Courage Ants, “Three P’s,” Self-Reliance

Pondering how I first happened on the translucent, barely visible child of neglect, the oddest image appeared in my mind. I imagined myself, middle thirties strolling placidly along a quiet beach. In

Sing Me Back Home: Coda, Frequency, Harmony

In the final year or so of my dad’s long life, he did not know who I was anymore. That is not so uncommon, but it was a good thing I had

What’s Attachment Got to Do With It? Abandonment, Energy, Resilience

On the 24th of April, we lost another queen. Admittedly where I was amazed and perhaps baffled by the dramatic display of emotion and attention following the death of the British monarch

Learning From Experience Re-Experiencing, George Floyd, Breath

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

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