Sympathy, Empathy, and Not Making it Worse
It’s tough. Witnessing someone we care about going through something painful can bring even the strongest of us to our knees. We struggle with what to say, what to do, how to act, how to help. It’s no accident that the language of condolence has been distilled down to an easy-to-remember script:…
The Gift Of A Week Gone Wrong
It’s been a very odd week. My daughter had surgery to rebuild a knee destroyed in a bad ski accident, our first foray into major medical issues. The two of us spent four days camped out in the living room, the upstairs bedrooms no longer accessible. I worked (inefficiently), she slept, and we…
Love in Spirit, Flesh and Cyberspace
I love you. That’s pretty much it. And not only because it’s Valentine’s Day. Just because… Love is the truth of who we are. One of the wisest messages I ever received is this: You don’t have to like everyone. That kind of emotion lies strictly in the human realm. Love is something entirely different.…
Love Rules
My honey and I just celebrated our first anniversary. It took a full week and involved food that nearly made me cry, oversized martini glasses, and sunset views of Puget Sound. For most of my life I’ve been terrible at romantic relationships. I was the poster child for poor decisions, poor timing and poor…
Love and Anger
I had a really bad experience recently. During a series of money hiccups, I called my bank’s customer service several times over the course of a week to straighten things out. An agent said to me, “Since Pascale is obviously a man’s name, I know you are committing fraud.” They put my accounts on a…
A Love Note… For You
My beloved reader, I know that you’re here because something hurts. I’m here because I’ve also had that hurt. I don’t claim that mine is the same as yours, although it might be, but that in my own journey to heal I’ve discovered so many ways of feeling better that I am committed to sharing.…
Love, Death and Hot Vampires
I’ve had nothing but disdain for the whole vampire craze. I just didn’t get it. What was all the fuss about?? I just found out. Thanks to a brief viewing of my daughter’s newest obsession: a TV show called The Vampire Diaries. What initially caught my attention was the cast. They’ve successfully assembled the…
love. Love. LOVE.
A friend and colleague (who happens to be a dating and relationship expert) recently posted about how she manifested her soulmate in 30 days. It got me thinking… Anybody interested in how I manifested my soulmate in 30 YEARS?? Perhaps not. There’s an entire industry devoted to coaching people towards the relationship of their dreams.…
For My Valentines
To you, the piece of my heart living outside my body, who stands so tall, strong and beautiful To you, beside me for double decades, for whom brother is too small a title To you, who honors my goddess, tantalizes my witch, and urges the shield around my heart to drop To you, who has…