Five years ago, a talented artist, Anya Getter, painted a beautiful piece for me (shown here) and sent it to me as a gift. You have to look closely to see the quote by Eleanor Roosevelt: “Do one thing every day that scares you.” It sits on my bed stand so it’s the first thing […]
Ever since I stopped my blog, Beyond Blue, on Beliefnet.com, I have been yearning to continue the discussion of how faith and spirituality impact depression, and vice versa. I am pleased to announce that I will be moderating a group called “Faith & Depression” on the new community, Project Beyond Blue. Also join Bob Park’s […]
At least once a month I get an email from someone who says she has read my blogs and she knows what I should do: rely on Jesus and let my faith heal me. Now I know her heart is good and she speaks from a place of compassion. I know that because I recognize […]
The last few months I have been working on developing a community that is not on Facebook for persons who struggle with treatment-resistant depression or another chronic mood disorder, a place where folks can form groups and post videos and have conversations that won’t accidentally show up on their timeline. I also wanted a home for […]
Last week, I had an interesting discussion with Eric Zimmer of “The One You Feed.” They produced a 55-minute podcast of the interview that includes the following points: The One You Feed parable. Battling treatment resistant depression. Turning struggle into service. Her long battles with depression. Treating depression holistically. Combining traditional medicine with alternative medicine. How […]
There’s a great e-card that reads: “Dear whatever doesn’t kill me, I’m strong enough now. Thanks.” It was the second most-liked item I posted on my Facebook page. The first was a quote by William Gibson: “Before you diagnose yourself with depression or low self-esteem, first make sure you are not, in fact, surrounded by […]
Depression isn’t the opposite of happiness, rather the absence of hope. Every morning I remind of that by reading some of my favorite quotes about hope. Among them are these. The lotus flower blooms most beautifully from the deepest and thickest mud. –Buddhist Proverb Turn your face to the sun and the shadows fall behind […]
This week is National Suicide Prevention Week! A few months ago, a woman once sent me a message on Facebook that began: “No pressure, but you might save a life.” She went on to tell me her problem and then asked for a solution. The first thing I did was take a deep breath followed […]
I have a love-hate relationship with December. Many people do. As a person with an extremely fragile psyche, who has a low threshold for stress, I feel like December adds another 50 percent of things to be scratched off of my “to do” list, and therefore tells my sympathetic nervous system that panic mode is […]
“You,” he said, “are a terribly real thing in a terribly false world, and that, I believe, is why you are in so much pain.” That quote belongs in Emilie Autumn’s psychological thriller novel, “The Asylum for Wayward Victorian Girls.” It’s the essence, I think, of Robin Williams. He was so real—so passionate, brilliant, empathetic, […]
In his classic bestseller, “Man’s Search for Meaning,” psychiatrist and holocaust-survivor Viktor Frankl explains that among the first things that he had to do once he arrived at Auschwitz was to surrender his clothes. This is humbling in itself, of course. But this was extraordinarily painful for Frankl, because in the jacket of his coat […]
“Each depression,” some wise person told me, “has it’s own gift.” I didn’t understand at that moment. But now I do. My first breakdown shattered my pride so that I could write from the heart. My second depression shattered my bitterness, so that I could learn to connect with others who feel pain like I […]
“If your compassion does not include yourself, it is incomplete,” said Jack Kornfield.
For a good year or so of my life, I wanted to be Gretchen Rubin, the bestselling author of The Happiness Project. I had coffee with her a few months before our books came out (both were published the first week of January, 2010). Hers became an instant New York Times bestseller. She appeared on […]
One of my favorite professors, an expert in Carmelite spirituality, reminded me that Wednesday was the feast day of St. Teresa of Avila. I pray her “bookmark” prayer most days. Here’s an excerpt.
“Life isn’t about waiting for the storm to pass…It’s about learning to dance in the rain,” wrote Vivian Greene. “Courage doesn’t always roar. Sometimes courage is the quiet voice at the end of the day saying, “I will try again tomorrow,” wrote Mary Anne Radmacher. These are two of my favorite quotes about living with […]
Most people who have been sober longer than a year are asked to give a “lead”—to tell their story. Mine was structurally simple, covering what it was like, what happened, and what it’s like now. Having only drank for three years, my addiction story is pretty straightforward: I stopped guzzling down mood-altering beverages. My depression […]
I’m not a mental health professional. I’m a hope builder. I feel like that, more than anything else I do on this earth, is my purpose. Because hope, when you really think about it, is the only thing you need to get better (besides lots of drugs, exercise, fish oil, probiotics, friends, self-help books, doctors, […]
You would never bring on a depressive cycle so that you could learn lessons on how to be more patient, trusting, compassionate, and giving. Yet, when darkness overshadows your days, and hiding places are few and far between, a person must turn toward his or her depression and extract any good that is tucked away […]
There’s a great e-card that reads: “Dear whatever doesn’t kill me, I’m strong enough now. Thanks.” It was the second most-liked item I posted on my Facebook page. The first was a quote by William Gibson: “Before you diagnose yourself with depression or low self-esteem, first make sure you are not, in fact, surrounded by […]
