Like her earlier book Organizing from the Inside Out, Julie Morgenstern takes an inner approach to working with clutter. Instead of tough-love and admonitions that “less is more”, she offers a rational approach that takes into account both our emotional attachment to the past and […]
Confusion or indecision can be unsettling and uncomfortable. Sometimes the desire to know and be certain is so overwhelming that we can work ourselves into an anxious state simply because we don’t know yet. Our Culture Has Little Room for Uncertainty Part of what makes […]
As a self-proclaimed self-help junkie, I can attest that it can get confusing. Am I becoming happier or learning more ways to name my unhappiness? Am I becoming more open-hearted and curious, or learning more clever ways to act wise and knowing? Am I working […]
This book and the included test identify your top five strengths and explain how to maximize them. The authors advocate working on your strengths rather than your weaknesses, arguing that you will only see marginal improvement if you try to strengthen a weakness, whereas you […]
I love this book. Louden weaves stories about her own life and journey into a book of journal prompts for connecting to Self. She emphasizes “living the questions” over finding the answers. The first prompt I picked from the book was, “What do I really […]
To actively defuse a trigger (instead of just letting it wear itself out), you must stay aware during the process that you ARE triggered. You have to have a thread of awareness that stays with you throughout the triggered state, so you can give yourself […]
We all have triggers: situations that bring up old feelings that are out of proportion to the current experience. There are two ways to deal with triggers–go into them more deeply, and let a “healing crisis” occur (a cathartic release of the pent-up feelings). This […]
Affirmations get a bad rap. The phrase “putting lipstick on a pig” sums up the most frequent criticisms. I see affirmations as a tool—they can be used effectively, or not. I have used them and they’ve helped me to rewire certain thought patterns, so I […]
This hails originally from AA, and was taught to me by my friend Sarah Dopp. Who am I resentful toward and why? What does this affect in my life? Am I willing to show this person the same tolerance, compassion, and patience that I’d give […]