Author Archives

Archive of the posts written by author : Robin.

Missed communications

At the time that I had started writing this post*, I had been contemplating factors that impact the communication between two people.  Our therapist oft asks about the our communication. I’m going to go out on a thick, sturdy branch here and postulate that examining the quality…

The More You Know

The More You Know

NBC’s public service announcements have been running since 1989.  The logo has improved from this one, but the objective is basically the same:  teach and learn.  With more information, you may be able to make better decisions.  I say ‘may’ and not ‘will’, because…

Leech

Writing is like a semi-symbiotic relationship, say with a leech. Sure there’s the life draining part, pain and possible transmission of disease, but it can also be purifying and extract that which you need desperately to remove from yourself. It’s hard for me…

Gut wrenching

pain scale

As a kid I had chronic constipation.  In my early twenties I had my first colonoscopy (not quite as much fun as drinking legally – but welcome to adulthood);  diagnosis: Irritable Bowel Syndrome with Constipation (IBSC).  As a result, I became a vegetarian;…

Zzzzzzzzz

There are so many thing that I wish I had known before having kids.  I cannot say that it would have prevented me from having them, but maybe I could have prepared better.  Unlikely, I know.  But it’s just plain rude to find out…

On being batty

on the beach

The English language has an absurd number of adjectives to describe insanity. A search of thesaurus.com for the term “batty” (although not obscure, it is not a frequent word for insane) returns four pages of results. Why so many descriptors? Clearly, we are…

All of me

marionnette

A little over a week ago, Ted told me that I had an unusual ability to be both emotional and rational about my depression. Today in therapy, Madeline pointed out something similar: when I communicate with Sandy, I (and he in return) intellectualize my feelings…

Affirmative

I envy my mother’s ability to recognize and acknowledge the best qualities in a person.  Far too often I scan a person for their flaws first.  Some part of it must have rubbed off, because I do endeavor to compliment acquaintances or strangers.  I might…

From the sidewalk

Depression has an itinerate, homeless quality to it.  Not the truly destitute homeless, though depression/mental illness and homelessness intertwine, but for the purposes of this comparison, consider the newly or traveling homeless – when you have friends and family to call upon – when you can still consider it…

Space

Yesterday and this morning both, I started the morning with something akin to a mild anxiety or panic attack at the prospect of heading home.  This happened to me this summer when I prepared to board the plane from Indianapolis to home, my subconscious…