Ah, the merry prancing of little reindeer hooves! The lighting of the menorah! The parties, the food, the music (not the “I saw mommy kissing Santa Clause,” necessarily, but maybe some upbeat Gregorian chants, the Etta James version of a tune, some of the more traditional stuff), and the lights! In this season of the… Continue Reading FEYT: Festive End of Year Trauma (and what you can do about it)
Prepping for the Holidays…Never Too Soon to Check Your Fantasies at the Door!
How does this happen!? The holidays are here again, with family (expectations) and feasting (that is never on your diet) and gift-giving (that is always expensive and never satisfying to the recipient). The ending of the year, regardless of your religious background, is rich with meaning. It is the omega of this year, just before… Continue Reading Prepping for the Holidays…Never Too Soon to Check Your Fantasies at the Door!
Masks and Costumes, Year-Round!
Masks.Costumes. We wear them throughout the year, and no more so than at Halloween. Halloween gives us special permission to be that funny, sexy, terrifying thing that secretly (at other times of the year) delights us, and hopefully others. My transformations throughout my years have reflected the essence of where I was at that… Continue Reading Masks and Costumes, Year-Round!
Dia de los Muertos and the Power of Ritual
Trick or treat! Is there no better ritual in the entire world, then running around at night in a fabulous costume, the streets belonging to the children and the children-at-heart, openly asking for and receiving yummy candy? Probably, but I can’t think of any right now, at least no ritual as all-inclusive as this. We… Continue Reading Dia de los Muertos and the Power of Ritual
Halloween, A Delightful Reminder
This month, I’ll be exploring in blogs about Halloween, and its wonderful service as a reminder. A reminder that we are mortal, and that we’re not dead yet. A reminder that we like to have fun, scary fun. A reminder that the “door” between the living and the not-living-in-this-world-anymore can be strong and sustaining. Many… Continue Reading Halloween, A Delightful Reminder
Halloween, Celebrating Life and Death Together
I LOVE Halloween! This time of the year, transitions are all around us…the brisk air, the colorful leaves, the earlier setting of the sun and later rising of it. Most of us are in preparation, buying candy, thinking about our costumes representing our alter-egos, the lives we want to live, or fear to, the parts… Continue Reading Halloween, Celebrating Life and Death Together
Pain: A Very Special Form of Resistance (or, How To Shrink Your Life)
Bonsai are fabulous, aren’t they! Those twisted, dwarfed trees, trained through the process of cutting the tap root and wrapping limbs in heavy wire, seem still to capture the beauty of natural process, trees compensating for wind and soil to continue living. When I was younger, I wanted to cultivate bonsai; I think, as the… Continue Reading Pain: A Very Special Form of Resistance (or, How To Shrink Your Life)
“It’s just pain:” Turning the mountain into something more like a mole hill
Learning to manage, and not avoid, pain is a crucial life skill. In doing healing work, our bodies learn both to tolerate discomfort better, and to rebound more quickly from the pain that life continues, at times, to bring. And it is in the tolerance to pain, the ability to move to the edge of… Continue Reading “It’s just pain:” Turning the mountain into something more like a mole hill
Welcome to the LGBTQIA Healthcare Guild for Sexual and Gender Minorities
I’m really excited about this venture. The educational video of 8 minutes clearly communicates some of the issues particularly effecting gay, lesbian, bi and transgendered adults and teens. Welcome to the LGBTQIA Healthcare Guild for Sexual and Gender Minorities
Pain as my teacher
Stephen Gaskin, cofounder years ago of a commune in Tennessee called The Farm, once said the degree to which one is enlightened is revealed by what one says when one hits one’s thumb with a hammer. Metaphorically, even literally, that hammer threatens all of us: divorce, termination of employment, violence, illness, and a host of… Continue Reading Pain as my teacher