When my inner world gets crowded with hobgoblins (and they’re coming in from all sides these days), I know that, just like the season, this, too, will pass. Meanwhile, be a positive force for others. Create present good. Go pumpkin picking. We need a mental health break. At a U-pick farm, we march into orange […]
Can you overcome your upbringing when raising your own kids? Josephine Martinez, came from the Philippines and was a stay-at-home mom all her life. She gave me an enduring sense of God’s goodness, which is ironic since she suffered from severe religious guilt. Fortunately, she didn’t raise us in the same way. Excessive self-blame is […]
Adversity reveals one’s character during these abnormal times. Togetherness, 24/7, as well as solitary confinement, gives rise to creativity and new ways to show love. Then there are the hoarders, the complainers, the blamers. Our country is on a collective timeout and what a collection we are. Each of us is a composite of good […]
PANDEMIC: Overcoming busyness, guilt and helplessness. By Suzette Martinez Standring Are we defined by busyness? The pandemic forces a standstill, making us feel helpless. We Americans multitask: family, career, volunteerism; just cross the next thing off on the to-do list. It’s not in our cultural DNA to navel gaze. Yet time and separation gives unexpected […]
The tragic deaths of Kobe Bryant, his 13-year-old daughter, Gianna, and seven others in a helicopter crash felt intimate to me, though I do not follow sports, nor have I ever met them. Yet imagining the sudden loss of a father and daughter is a dread I can feel in my bones. Also, all of […]