“When children are faced with pain and anxiety in their developmental years, they develop defense mechanisms to cut off that pain. But the tragedy is that in cutting off the pain, you also cut deeply into their lives, so that defenses that were basically survival-oriented psychologically also serve as terrible limitations to the self.” ~… Read more »
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In 1938, Harvard researchers began to study a group of sophomores at the then-all-male school. The goal of the study was to “identify the psychosocial predictors of healthy aging.” Today, the longitudinal study, known as the Harvard Study of Adult Development, has gone on for 80 years and has even expanded to include some of… Read more »
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On Sunday night, I tucked my son into bed, cleaned my house to an atypical point of tidiness, and baked two quiches, using the exact amount of ingredients I bought at the store. My precise dominance over these utterly mundane activities gave me a sense of calm, a soft illusion of control. It didn’t last…. Read more »
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We can all name the bad habits we get into when we and our partner are mutually bored. Maybe it’s the eyes glued to our cell phone screens in bed or afternoons filled with watching bad TV. We may feel it in the stretches of silence over dinner or the long, lazy minutes trying to… Read more »
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In a recent article, journalist Johann Hari wrote about the doubt some scientists feel about depression being caused by a “chemically imbalanced” brain. For most of his adult life, Hari had believed that his depression was the result of a biological condition. However, after doing his own investigation into the subject, which led to his… Read more »
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Why is it that we fight the most with those we love the most? Is it just because we’re two people with two completely separate minds spending so much time together that we’re bound to not see eye to eye once in a while? Or, is it something more profound, something deeper? Unfortunately, it’s usually… Read more »
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Rejection is an almost unavoidable aspect of being human. No one has ever succeeded in love or in life without first facing rejection. We all experience it, and yet, those times when we do are often the times we feel the most alone and outcast. So much of the hurt and struggle we endure when… Read more »
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“Your task is not to seek for love, but merely to seek and find all the barriers within yourself that you have built against it.” ― Rumi When it comes to the pursuit of finding love, many of us feel powerless – like it’s completely outside of our control. That’s not to say that there’s any… Read more »
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The term “self-consciousness” doesn’t sound so bad when broken down. After all, being conscious of oneself is something we all need in order to operate as social beings in a social world. However, self-consciousness often describes an exaggerated focus or uncomfortable attitude we have about ourselves and how we are perceived. The problem with self-consciousness… Read more »
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As someone whose worries frequently play at full volume, I’m always looking for effective ways to quiet my mind. Too often, slowing down when my thoughts are racing feels like something easier said than done. One thing that helps me is taking yoga. I’m always surprised by the way I can enter a studio tense and… Read more »
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