There is an old cartoon where two vultures are sitting on a phone wire when one turns to the other and says: “To hell with patience, I’m going to kill something!” This recent explosion of anti-Semitic activity, including the destruction of a Jewish cemetery right here in Philadelphia reminds me of that vulture. You see, […]
My Doctor, My Student
I just had lunch with a young friend of mine who was just completing her PhD in psychology. She told me that in many schools, they are only teaching Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT). I can understand some of their reasoning as there has been a good deal of research on this therapy. It employs various […]
New Year’s Thoughts
What are New Year’s resolutions really all about? Well, it turns out the practice of making New Year’s resolutions started among the ancient Babylonians, who wanted to earn favor with the gods. So they promised to pay off debts or return things they have borrowed. But these days we are not trying to curry favor […]
Celebrating 37 Years
On December 20, 1979 I kissed my wife and two little daughters goodbye and walked across my newly frozen lawn to climb into my burgundy colored Dodge dart. Little did I know those would be the last few steps I would ever take. Two hours later my car was crushed by a tire that broke […]
Pain, pills, understanding and compassion
I recently attended an all-day seminar on the opiate addiction epidemic. It turns out a major contributor to the origins of this epidemic was big Pharma. You see, they manufactured the drug that worked beautifully with acute pain. And then there were the addiction side effects they failed to mention when they marketed this drug […]
This election: The voice of human suffering
This election is the voice of human suffering. The anger on one side is a byproduct of a large group of people who feel unheard, unnoticed and uncared-about. People who suffer and feel alienated, angry and helpless. The righteous indignation on the other side is born of fear. And now those who have lost have […]
The Language of Pain
In response to a previous post on the Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation webpage, a woman felt grateful for what she received from my words. She implied that she is living with pretty severe chronic pain and was looking for a way to live with it. She felt my previous post was very helpful. Here […]
Pain, the Attention-Getter
Pain demands attention. And the more severe the pain, the more attention it demands. Over the last couple of months, I have developed severe muscular and neurological paint in my neck and shoulders. It feels like a hot piece of steel going through my shoulders and neck. Recently, I went on my annual silent meditation […]
Kindness Changes Everything
Last night we went out to dinner with another couple. Upon arriving at the restaurant, I looked down at my light colored pants and saw that my catheter leaked. Again. And because I was wearing light colored pants, it was pretty visible. But not only was I sitting in urine (granted, I couldn’t feel it […]
Thoughts on the Cusp of 70
So here I am on the cusp of my 7th decade on this planet. 70 years on this earth, with this body. This body that has experienced assault from schoolmates, sports injuries and 3 major concussions. This body that has experienced sexual abuse from a man he trusted and idolized when he was 12 years […]
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