Going with the Flo

Impractical Psychology On this New Year’s my mind goes back to Ellen, the thirty-three-year old mother with breast cancer who, after she’d been informed that she had from twenty-four to forty-eight of consciousness left, called me for help. Me? What did I know? I was a twenty-five-year psychologist barely out …

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Miss Me? I’m Not That Crazy

Miss Me? I’m Not That Crazy! The availiability of putting our words on the fabulous World Wide Web has left each of us with the impression that we are much more important than we actually are. We are even taught tricks to bubble up hit statistics and further over-estimate our …

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Bendicio Man, He Loves You

      Bendicio Man Having seen Bendicio (Blessing) man several times in different cities, I asked what he was about. He answered: “Love” . . .  in at least eight languages. He took time to tell this silly tourist type scurrying across Mexico City’s grand Reforma–patterned after the Avenue …

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How to Be a Loving, but Separate Person, Hawaiian Pineapple Cake

How to Be a Loving but Separate Self…Otherwise you will drift between faking agreement and hiding anger. MysteryShrink Short: Love and Boundaries FOOD, Pineapple Upside Down Cake The couple had just finished the last meal of their magical Hawaiian honeymoon. The gazed into each other’s eyes. The fragrance of blossoms …

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How to Be a Loving, But Separate Self, Wedding Cake

How to Be a Loving but Separate Self…Otherwise you will drift between faking agreement and hiding anger. MysteryShrink Short: Love and Boundaries FOOD, Wedding Cake Leftovers The wedding had been held one on of those flowing green lawns behind Southern mansions, shaded by ancient and glorious oak trees hung with …

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Little Boys Have Love in Their Eyes

Little Boys Have Love in Their Eyes MysteryShrink Short I’m sitting at an outdoor table along the Plaza de San Francisco in San Luis Potosi yesterday. Weather’s lovely. Colonial churches, cinnamon chocolate in the air, old men hidden in clouds of balloons for sale. A ragged little boy of six …

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Over-Dosing on Back Braces

MysteryShrink Shorts Overdosing on Back Braces “Good afternoon,” I said from the podium a couple of days ago. “My name is Barbara and I’m a back-brace addict.” I didn’t start out as an all-out back brace fiend. Neither of my parents had an unhealthy attachment to medical devices—though my brother, …

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