Childhood’s End

A human being may have had a perfect upbringing, yet that fact does not have ultimate significance in the evolution towards good mental health and well-being as an adult. Avoiding a childhood characterized by physical, emotional, and/or sexual abuse is certainly a desirable and necessary foundation for strong, healthy children, Read more…

Just Another Humbled Heart While Home Over The Holidays

After recently witnessing, experiencing, or hearing about several incomplete, unloving, and/or alienating family gatherings and situations, and being uninvited to another, I have decided that,in the interests of maintaining the limited and questionable quality of family relationships that I presently have, I will get a dog, and instead focus all Read more…

Chapter 26 – Recovery, Healing, and Knowledge

“One is never afraid of the unknown; one is afraid of the known coming to an end.” ― Krishnamurti  Our present day national consciousness continues to be heavily influenced by old history and skewed knowledge, racism, white male supremacy, Christian fundamentalist inspired judgements, hatreds and ideologies, patriarchy, misogyny, and xenophobia. Read more…

Chapter 13 – Damaged: High School, Friends, College, Employment, and Beyond

Evergreen High School Class of 1973 Photograph of Donelle Mae Flick (Paullin) My first wife, Donelle Mae Flick Paullin, suffered from what psychiatric professionals labeled as paranoid schizophrenia. I struggled mightily to help, and to understand her, over the many years that I stayed in relationship with her. I gained Read more…