Humor and Humility in Helping
It’s said that humility is an essential part of wisdom, and I fully subscribe to this. After all, the wiser one gets, the more one realizes all that is yet to be known. And the wiser one gets, the more vision one has of the fallibility of everyone, including – and especially – one’s self. […]
The Collective “We”
Aren’t we all in this together? Isn’t this what every major philosophical, spiritual, and scientific endeavor has proffered all though human history?
Our Babies
There’s a saying I like: “There’s no such thing as other people’s children.” I like it because I believe it’s true. We might consider that our collective duty as adults on the planet is to look after the children ~ all the children. It’s also unconscionable to hold any child accountable for any lack or […]
Empathy ~ The Great Connector
I like to call empathy “the great connector”. Here’s why: humans are such that, when shown empathy (and its cousin, compassion), they tend to respond to that person with more trust and openness – a sense of ‘safety’, if you will, that their emotional experience is being recognized. There’s a general evolutionary theory about why […]
Healing from Trauma
The fascinating and profound things that have been researched and discovered about the sources of trauma, what it does to the body and brain, and what it takes to heal from trauma is informing the entire world of treatment. We have learned that the effects of trauma/extreme chronic stress don’t just “go away” – that […]
Connection, despair, connection.
I don’t think we can authentically separate out the way we live our daily lives from what is happening in Ukraine, from the violence and despair we’re witnessing – and feeling – from what has happened time and time and time again in human history. As we learn more and more about how we are […]
Art, Humanity
It is said, rightly so, that art furthers our understanding of the human experience. It’s also true, I believe, that art in all its forms asks us to question everything – to think more carefully and deeply about our own as well as the collective experience. As helpers, we should avail ourselves of art on […]
Helpers
One of the things I like best about my work is that I get to constantly rub elbows with so many good-hearted, compassionate, earnest people who are committed to serving their fellow human beings. In this often disturbing, disappointing world, I get to be reminded regularly that there are legions of people out there who […]
The Collective “We”
Aren’t we all in this together? I find it fascinating how science increasingly confirms so many of the things humans have intuited spiritually, philosophically, and practically: our inter-connectedness. How could it be otherwise? The person who uses a phone has to thank countless others through time who have offered their ingenuity, inventiveness, brain power, physical […]