The word “vacation” comes from the Latin word vacare, which means to be empty, free. This is a very Zen concept that few of us, I suspect, would apply to our vacations. Often we are as busy and occupied during…
My father was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s a few days after his eightieth birthday. His dementia was fairly advanced. We ignored the signs as long as we could. After his diagnosis my father deteriorated rapidly. It seemed that now that we…
This is a re-post of a blog that was posted on Google Blog in 2011. In the film Julie and Julia, we are provide with an interesting contrast between the story of Julia Child and her start in the cooking…
Last night I dreamed: I am in a large cineplex theater. I am searching for a movie that has already started and only has fifteen minutes left. I search and search but I am never able to find the right…
Tighe Foley, one of the four people appearing in my documentary film Facing Death . . . with open eyes, spoke about a pivotal moment when he switched from struggling to live with HIV to anticipating his death. “I was…
Eating affects the way we feel, how we function and how are bodies repair. This is especially important when we are under stress or coping with a significant loss. In my blog Grief Lessons, I described how I lost my…
As my parents moved into their “golden years” and closer to that ultimate life passage we call death, my mother often said that if she and my father lost their wits and assumed a vegetable like state they would drive…
A few weeks ago I was struggling with negative thoughts about my website designer. I say struggling because a) they were making me feel powerless and victimized and b) I was afraid these thoughts might be contributing to the problem.…
After my dear friend Marianne died, my husband George and I spent a couple of months clearing out her apartment and storage lockers. It’s an interesting process sorting through the accumulation of a lifetime, a little like an archeological excavation.…
As I began to write my blog this week, the story of the break-up of my first marriage, the subject of my last blog, came tumbling out. I knew I wanted to write about grief and this was certainly about…
Last week, I spent several days revising the follow-up emails to my complimentary grief guide, Essentials for Grieving Well. I had decided that people would be more likely to read the emails if they were shorter. So I broke up the…
About twenty of us were squeezed into the living room of a small Brooklyn apartment awaiting the counsel of Laurie Lamb, a New York trance medium. It was 1986 and my life was in shambles. I had moved back home…
Christmas, the winter holiday I’ve celebrated all my life, conjures up rich memories — the swirl of snow flakes in a Christmas tree lot; cold toes, flush faces and the mist of warm breathe; unpacking hand-made tree ornaments and disentangling…
The movie, Cherry Blossoms is about life, death, love and the journey of spirit. It is also about Butoh. I now understand Butoh. Life, death, love, grief and Butoh — all the same. My dearly departed friend, Marianne, danced Butoh.…
Back when I was in graduate school in Indiana, I traveled to Cleveland to attend a weekend Gestalt Therapy group as part of my dissertation research. What I remember most about that event was feeling awed by a young woman…
I can’t believe it’s almost Thanksgiving! The impending holiday has me thinking about the way we experience time — speeding up sometimes, slowing down at other times. For example, it drag when I am standing on line for a movie,…
I have never been all that keen about material stuff. I love clear white walls, oriental rugs on wood floors and a few throw pillows. Space to quiet the mind or do a headstand. I dislike clothes shopping and go…
Doing a life review is one of the items on the list of actions for dying well. It seems reasonable that you would want to take stock of things as the end nears. Create a personal “life report card.” How…
About four years ago, I had the humbling experience of forgetting a dinner/concert engagement with a friend. I knew it was coming up, but for some reason thought it the following week. I had always been pretty good at remembering…
I can’t recall a time in my life when I did not believe in some kind of afterlife. Certainly my visualization of what that life after death might entail has changed over the years, but the certainty of my continuation…