Posts tagged with “wisdom”
The Prowler in My Mind: Learning to Live with Depression
“There is a crack in everything, that’s how the light gets in.” ~Leonard Cohen
When depression comes, I feel it like a prowler gliding through my body. My chest tightens, my head fills with dark whispers, and even the day feels like night. The prowler has no face, no clear shape, but its presence is heavy. Sometimes it circles in silence within me. Other times it presses in until I don’t know how to respond.
In those moments, I feel caught between two choices: do I lie still, hoping it passes by, or do I rise and face it? Often, …
3 Surprising Causes of Burnout That Most People Miss
“Love yourself first and everything else falls into line.” ~Lucille Ball
The first time I experienced burnout, I was twenty-six.
I was at the height of my career in London, doing it all, and yet I somehow found myself back at my parents’ house, sobbing in my mom’s car, after signing myself off from work, not having a clue how I landed there.
Burnout isn’t just about being tired from overexertion. It’s when we reach physical, mental, and emotional exhaustion after pushing ourselves past our capacity for too long.
When we finally stop, often against our will, all the confusing …
Be Like a Paddle Ball: How to Bounce Back to Yourself
“Come back to yourself. Return to the voice of your body. Trust that much.” ~Geneen Roth
I may be showing my age, but here goes… It has come to my attention that I’m like a paddle ball.
To anyone born in the 21st century: for context, before handheld devices ruled the world, kids entertained themselves with simple analog toys—such as the paddle ball.
Picture a small flat paddle (like a small ping-pong paddle) with a rubber ball attached to the center by an elastic string. The goal was to hit the ball with the paddle, watch it fly out and …
What I See Clearly Now That I Can’t See Clearly
“The most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen… they must be felt with the heart.” ~Helen Keller
I didn’t want to admit it—not to myself, not to anyone. But I am slowly going blind.
That truth is difficult to write, harder still to live. I’m seventy years old. I’ve survived war zones, illness, caregiving, and creative risks. I’ve worked as a documentary filmmaker, teacher, and mentor. But this—this quiet, gradual vanishing of sight—feels like the loneliest struggle of all.
I have moderate to advanced macular degeneration in both eyes. My right eye is nearly gone, and my …
What Happened When I Stopped Expecting Perfection from Myself
“There is no amount of self-improvement that can make up for a lack of self-acceptance.” ~Robert Holden
Six years ago, I forgot it was picture day at my daughter’s school. She left the house in a sweatshirt with a faint, unidentifiable stain and hair still bent from yesterday’s ponytail.
The photographer probably spent less than ten seconds on her photo, but I spent hours replaying the morning in my head, imagining her years later looking at that picture and believing her mother had not tried hard enough.
It’s strange how small moments can lodge themselves in memory. Even now, when …
Healing Without Reconciling with My Mother and Learning to Love Myself
“Owning our story and loving ourselves through that process is the bravest thing that we’ll ever do.” ~Brené Brown
Several years ago, I wrote a heartfelt letter to my estranged mother, articulating my deep feelings about her perceived lack of empathy and care. My intention in writing the letter wasn’t to ignite conflict; it was to sincerely share my perspective.
Rather than lashing out with blame, I expressed my profound sadness about feeling parentless and the struggle of raising myself without parental love and guidance, something I desperately needed at times.
I bared my soul, detailing the emotional turmoil …
When the Person You Love Is Disappearing into Addiction
“Boundaries are the distance at which I can love you and myself at the same time.” ~Prentis Hemphill
I thought I had seen the worst of it. I thought I knew what it meant to watch someone you love disappear into addiction. My mother taught me that lesson long before I was old enough to truly understand it.
Growing up, I saw her sink deep into heroin. I learned to read the signs before she even spoke. I knew when she was high. I knew when she was lying. I knew when she was gone, even when she was …
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