Archive for personal challenges – Page 9

Light of Gratitude in Dark Times

In the wake of terror and violence, a Facebook friend rallied against desensitization or surrendering to despair. But what else is there to feel? Paranoia? Revenge? Hatred?  I needed another option. This is the season for love and goodwill, but headlines disconnected me from holiday cheer, such as writing Christmas cards. Then, I thought, why […]

Black Friday: Overcome the Darkness

Black Friday is aptly named. Everyone’s dark side is out when the last nerve is drilled down trying to buy that “smart” toy, a tie, or the last leather bag in saddle brown. Now big sales on Thanksgiving splinter the holiday further. Is the football game on the wide screen TV the only glue holding […]

Writing to Heal Abuse Works

After neglect, sexual and physical abuse, wholeness is possible. Christine “Cissy” White of Weymouth has transformed fear and secrecy into a vibrant love of self and others. The act of writing aided her triumph. An activist for other survivors, she founded Heal Write Now, which shares recovery from the inside out through writing. Writing to […]

God’s House Calls: A doctor speaks of medical improbabilities

Have you ever had an experience that defied reason? In 1987 my mother was in a coma from a brain aneurysm. On the seventh night of her hospitalization, I dreamt my mother was drifting upwards through a wide tunnel toward angels set against blue skies.  In my dream, I thought, “Mom, are you saying goodbye?”  […]

The Transgender Journey: What Do I Do With That?

Bruce Jenner makes the transgender journey into womanhood as Caitlyn Jenner. What do I do with that? Does it have anything to do with me? It does. At first I dismissed it as publicity mongering, feeling his position of wealth and notoriety placed him far from the typical transgender experience of shame, frequent abuse and […]