Embrace Sadness and Reap Joy
Feel the pain; find the joy. Yes, it can be done. The Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) group that I periodically join in as facilitator poignantly teaches me this yin yang of life. A bicycle accident leaves a man bereft of his ‘old’ life. He survives but he loses his life as he knew it. His […]
Resiliencey from Holocaust Survivors
I was recently asked to facilitate a session for a Holocaust survivor support group. The topic was resilience. Now this is a subject that resonates strongly for me as I feel it’s the key to coping and handling life’s curvy and bumpy roads. However, as I got to thinking about my actual presentation, I thought […]
10 Ways Towards Self-Rejuvenation
This week I was a part of two groups where the topic of discussion was self-care. In one group I was the facilitator for a group of moms whose children are in a rehabilitation hospital, critically ill due to accidents or illnesses. Ten years ago I was actually one of those moms whose daughter was […]
Interview with Nick Flynn
I recently saw the movie Being Flynn. It’s based on the memoir, Another Bullshit Night in Suck City, by Nick Flynn. The basic premise is, while working in a homeless shelter, Nick meets up with his estranged, homeless father. What follows is the poignant struggle of a son to reconnect that severed bond with a […]
Honoring the Miracle of My Daughter’s Life By Seizing Life Now
I’ve always been a seizer, of opportunities that is. However, since 2002, I’ve become a mindful and intentional seizer. In July 2002 my middle daughter,Nava, miraculously alive and basically recovered, walked out of her rehab hospital after a year-long medical crisis. I felt a strong need to honor her miraculous survival and recovery. And so […]
Alex Blackwell on “Saying Yes To Change”
As many of you know, I do monthly interviews with inspirational people who have ‘successfully’ risen above their personal challenges to rebuild their lives with meaning, purpose and joy. I have been given a wonderful opportunity here – the chance to interview a most inspirational blogger who has just published his first book. I am […]
Finding Our Way Back From Grief
We all deal with grief very differently. Some don’t talk, some desperately need to . Some withdraw into themselves, others can’t be alone and need to be around people. When people go through a loss or an extremely difficult situation, the problem can be compounded by one another’s differences in coping and grieving style. That […]
Inviting Parents to a Teleconference Class on Basic Communication Skills
In light of my upcoming teleconference class, I’m re-posting a previous post, slightly modified. One of the best aspects of my job as a school social worker (pre-retirement) was conducting parenting workshops. And one of my favorite is the “How To Talk So Kids Will Listen and Listen So Kids Will Talk” series. The two authors, Adele […]
Teleconference Parenting Class
I’m stepping out and embarking on something new – a teleconference class. Since I love doing parenting workshops, I figured I’d expand my repertoire and start offering some online classes. Another avenue, another way of reaching people and another way of expanding myself. This first class will be about helping children deal with their feelings. […]
Memoirs – The Raw Deal
I have always loved reading books about people’s struggles and how they are able to overcome them. That’s why my favorite genre of books is memoirs. I love the real thing. I know fiction certainly portrays this theme, but I want to read about the real person with the real situation and the real human […]