What each person finds beautiful varies widely. But certain things seem to be universal, and sometimes we meet someone and are immediately struck by her looks. However, what actually forms the complete picture of beauty is her personality, the way she carries herself, how she interacts with others, how she dresses and her body language. […]
Why are we so quick to judge others? Are we shocked by their behavior, or just a bit envious because they dare to do or say something we would never do? Perhaps by judging and labeling, we feel superior. However, when the tables are turned and it is we who are being judged, we feel […]
Stop! You’re going to fall! Stop! You’re going to fall! Boom! You fell. You walked straight off that cliff everyone tried to warn you about. Now, you’ve got no one to blame but yourself. It’s not like you weren’t warned, after all.
At the age of 28, while living in Spain, I experienced a sudden burning, painful sensation on my right thigh. It itched, and the more I scratched at it, the more it spread. It was so painful that I went to the emergency room. There, a doctor checked my leg, asked about my symptoms and […]
UPDATED: August 1st, 2016 Women are more self-reliant than ever before. It’s hard to imagine a time when we were often referred to as the “weaker sex”. We are better described as being strong, self-made and self-sufficient. But this shift in power means that both women and men have had to adjust and redefine their […]
It wasn’t until I moved to San Francisco in 1997 that I understood what a big deal Halloween and trick-or-treating are in the U.S. Back then, the notorious Castro Halloween street party was still in full swing. That was the real deal! I don’t know who enjoyed it the most, adults or kids. Still, I […]
Fear is often considered a negative reaction, but at times it can be a life saver. In the face of real danger, fear—which is embedded in the brain’s amygdala—gets us to react instantly. It’s an automatic survival response. The amygdala also relies on memory to alert us of a danger we faced sometime in the […]
Resilience is the human capacity to adapt to circumstances in the face of grief or adversity, whether coping with the loss of a loved one, a layoff, a disease, a divorce, or any emotionally disrupting event. It is resilience that enables us to pick ourselves up and go on with our lives despite the pain. […]
The word “suicide” in conversation is not exactly an icebreaker. Nevertheless, if you have a family member or close friend who is a suicide survivor, learning how to talk about suicide will help your friends and family cope, and it might aid your loved one’s recovery. My own suicide attempt was years ago, and I […]