Feeling and Thinking

In last week’s blog posting I wrote about the relationship between being “self aware” and being “well integrated,” which is also often termed being “congruent.” These qualities are characteristic of reasonably “mentally...

Healthy Living

The title of this week’s blog comes from a weekly column I wrote, for nearly twenty years, in The Summerville Journal-Scene. It was entitled “Healthy Living.” During those years I was director of the Dorchester County Mental Health clinic, a facility...

Science and Religion

Each year, for the past twelve years, in February, around the birthday of Charles Darwin, a “Darwin Week” conference is held here in Charleston. It consists of various programs and presentations related to science in general and evolutionary studies in...

Tragedy and Gun Control

On January 3, 2013, I posted a blog in which I offered several comments concerning the horrible school shooting in Newtown, Connecticut. These comments  ranged from observations on mental illness to matters of ethics, politics, modes of thinking, the nature of tragedy...

Karl Marlantes on “Loyalty”

Recently, I’ve been reading one of the most important books I will likely ever read. I’d say I have almost finished it–only a few pages left–but I suspect I’ll be reading portions of Karl Marlantes’ What It Is Like To Go To War...

On Atheism

I recently attended the occasion of a professional associate being installed as the “minister” of a Unitarian Universalist “church.” The quotes refer to my observation that, in such a context, “minister” and “church” are...

Legalized Abortion

Dear Barbara, As with most of the interesting articles you pass along to me, I appreciated the recent piece entitled “Leeches, Lye and Spanish Fly,” an horrific describing of so many different dangerous ways women through the years have sought to perform...

As Strong as an Elephant

A friend recently shared a penetrating parable with me. He grew up in a prominent South American country, and he tells me his grandmother–he didn’t identify her as maternal or paternal–that she was a primary parenting/mentoring figure in his life. A...

Peter’s Principle

I suspect you’ve heard of “The Peter Principle,” from the best-selling 1969 book bearing that title–the observation that, in most organizations, people get promoted to their highest level of incompetence. Here, however, is “Peter’s...