Category: Psychology

HARDWIRED

MAY 27, 2023 – Recently, while I was hiking the hills of “Little Switzerland,” a golfer in his late 20s called out a greeting to me as he strode from his cart to the tee. An extrovert, he prompted me to respond similarly. I reciprocated and added a passing observation about the late-day improvement in …

ANXIOUS SPECIES

MARCH 9, 2023 – At the outset of last year’s personally notable medical expedition, I experienced unusual anxiety. Physically, I was feeling, well, not so well. The worst occurred when my side of the earth was turned away from our local star, and the worst of the worst was when I climbed into bed each …

DAY 74: ONE FOR A THERAPY SESSION

NOVEMBER 5, 2022 – Blogger’s note: Given the subject matter of this (lengthy) post, I found it difficult to split it into installments. I think you’ll understand why, assuming you read the post in its entirety.     I hadn’t touched my fiddle in a week, and before that, not in a month; maybe that’s why …

“BECAUSE IT’S THERE”

DECEMBER 20, 2021 – “Because it’s there.” That was the reason George Leigh Mallory gave for his ill-fated attempt to conquer Mt. Everest in 1924. The phrase is often attributed to New Zealander Sir Edmund Hilary, who, in 1953, with Tibetan Tenzing Norgay, reached where no one had gone before: the summit of earth’s highest …

BELIEF SYSTEMS

DECEMBER 13, 2020 – Today’s Times tells about yesterday’s pro-Trump demonstrations protesting the “stolen” election.  The continuing defiance follows the Supreme Court’s “thumbs downs” rejection of Trump’s last-gasp effort to reverse reality. One protester, a woman from Jacksonville, said “God told her” to drive to Atlanta to join the pro-Trump protest there and said she …

THE WALK AND THE TALK

NOVEMBER 28, 2020 – Yesterday, as I approached the entrance to “Little Switzerland” (a nearby hilly park) and my daily hike, I saw a couple walking toward me up the sidewalk. To maintain social distancing, I hurried to reach the break-away point before the other two walkers. As I peeled into the closest “canton,” the …