“Yours, Mine and Ours” is high on my list of favorite movies — the 1968 version, not that nonsense from 2005. Starring Henry Fonda and Lucille Ball, the movie loosely follows the real life love story between Frank Beardsley, a widowed father of 10, and Helen North, a widowed mother of eight, who meet, fall in love, marry, and attempt to tackle life with 18 children. I remember watching it years…

I’ve been feeling unmotivated with writing lately. I don’t want to think about article ideas. I don’t want to spend time thinking about what to write. I don’t really feel like putting in the thought or the effort. I just want to be present, breathe, and enjoy my day. I want to walk and look at the…

I love Pema Chödrön’s emphasis on being present with ourselves. Simply being present. She talks about the softness, the kindness, the gentleness, the tenderness, and the self-compassion I wish that we all had with ourselves — that I feel we need to have with ourselves. It’s too easy to be hard on ourselves — too many of us do this. …

I love writing about romantic relationships. However, I always find it difficult to write about love. Love isn’t easy, and it’s probably why talking about it isn’t easy either. Love is sweet, but it’s also bitter. It’s smooth, but it’s also arduous. It’s beautiful, but it’s also messy. Love is everything and nothing all at once. …

When I first met him, I could see the pain swimming in the depths of his pastel green eyes. Those same, widened eyes would always look at me in awe. I could feel his longing to be held and to have someone to hold. It was overwhelming. His inability to blink when he stared directly into my oak brown eyes made me feel apprehensive — a feeling at the…

A few days ago, I mentioned in my weekly report at work that I was burned out. My schedule was all over the place, and all I wanted was to stay in bed all day long. At times, I even signed out a few hours earlier just to get an extra hour of sleep. While it’s true that I’ve had several tasks to juggle, the fault is…

A few years ago, after multiple failed relationships, I finally jumped on the therapy bandwagon. I was never against therapy, but the idea of sitting down with a complete stranger and baring all my secrets and issues felt overwhelming. And the belief that I was so broken that I needed someone else to “fix” me was embarrassing. For years, I convinced myself that I was…

Something’s been bugging me since the school shooting in Uvalde, Texas. It isn’t being talked about enough anymore. And not just the one in Texas, but all the ones that preceded it. Mass shootings are still a possibility in the future. Sick people still believe they have the right to go buy a gun and kill whomever they want. It breaks…

This morning, I sat in bed, taking it more slowly than I usually do. I felt tired, so I rested more. I meditated. I decided I’d start work a little later than usual. As I sat there, I observed that familiar underlying sense of urgency — the feeling of having to get things done, having to fit things in at a certain time, the…