News Archives | Page 2 of 5

How to be safe using Uber and Lyft

May 15, 2017 No Comments

I don’t normally write public service announcements, but in this case, I’m writing one. I feel like all of you who subscribe to my blog are my family, and I care. I want you to be safe. Please pass this on to everyone you know. Last week, the news was abuzz with a big story about a female Uber passenger who was sexually assaulted by a “fake” Uber driver. Apparently hers was not the only such incident involving fake Uber and Lyft drivers. I urge you to watch the video here. I’m a huge, huge proponent of using rideshare companies to get around in large cities, so this news got my attention. I decided to do a little research. There are several components to this story. First, how can we protect ourselves from fake Uber and Lyft drivers, since they drive regular, not-easily-identifiable cars like cabs? Second, how safe are legit […]

Family, Health, Mindfulness, News, Relationships, Work

How Susan Merrill got to the bottom of her anxiety and depression

April 4, 2017 No Comments

Susan Merrill had the perfect life on the outside – intact, midwest family growing up, straight-A student, married Mr. Wonderful right out of college, and a perfect job. But she was depressed and anxious. “My awakening started when I had my son,” she says. “I started to realize that here was this human being I brought into the world and in so many ways, I had been faking my life. I wasn’t that in love with my husband, I didn’t really like my job, but I was being what the American dream is – good job with benefits, marriage, buying a home in California – yet it was all kind of false. “It was the love for my son that made me realize I didn’t want to pretend any more. I wanted a more authentic life. I had no idea what that meant, but I knew at some level I […]

Family, Health, Mindfulness, News, Relationships

If you’re tired of being stressed and anxious….

February 2, 2017 No Comments

I decided I’d rather love than divide. Loving keeps my stress way down and dividing makes my stress go way up. But sometimes choosing to love rather than divide is not so easy, such as right now during our country’s current political state of affairs. People feel very, very strongly one way or the other, and I’m no different. But in the midst of a heated argument with someone I care about – each one of us taking a different political side – I stopped and took a breath. I hated the way I was feeling by being all heated up in an argument. Hated that I was getting angry with someone who means a lot to me. I really hated the way I could see this argument dividing us from each other. So I took a big breath and stopped. I said to him, “I’m sorry for not listening […]

Family, Health, Home, Mindfulness, News, Relationships, Style

Why perfection can’t make you happy – but this will

November 29, 2016 1 Comment

Our culture of perfection is bringing up more insights for me. You know, we’re supposed to have perfect hair, perfect bodies, perfect kitchens, perfect homes, perfect relationships, be fabulous foodies and cooks, and we’re even supposed to have perfect thoughts. You’re probably like me in that you hardly notice what’s going on because we’re swimming in this culture. For me, once I started paying attention, I realized I was telling myself stuff like this: “If I just exercise more, I’ll have a perfect body. If I take some cooking classes I’ll be able to be a foodie, too. If I get more spiritual, I’ll have more perfect thoughts,” and so on. Our consumer culture feeds this stuff to us constantly and it’s hard to ignore. We’re being told all of the time that we can do more and be more. We’re inspired by blog posts about the latest exercise routine, […]