by Marcia | Dec 15, 2015 | Setting and Achieving Goals
The end-of-year holidays form a kind of time tunnel linking the present with the past and the future. When they roll around, we take stock. What do they mean this year? How are things different from last year? We may nostalgically remember times past, before Mom died...
by Marcia | Oct 23, 2015 | Workplace and Career
In America, one of the first questions adults ask one another is, “What kind of work do you do?” For most of us, our jobs are part of who we are. So how do you find something you enjoy doing that will be a good fit financially and in other respects as...
by Marcia | Jul 31, 2015 | Living Well, Workplace and Career
Life is unpredictably challenging. Relationships are a rollercoaster. Work can be endlessly frustrating. Stress is exhausting. How many tools do you have in your kit to help you cope? Try these. 1. Are you in a dreadful situation with no way to escape? While you go...
by Marcia | May 5, 2015 | Workplace and Career
You hate leaving for the office every morning. How great it would be to work from home, you think. There would be no ornery hovering boss, no backbiting coworkers, and no oppressive, dehumanizing working conditions. Banished! Not so fast. Work from home, great as it...
by Marcia | Apr 17, 2015 | Living Well, Setting and Achieving Goals
Too often as we pursue our daily lives we have no sense of overarching purpose. We assume that what we want will somehow magically come if we keep putting one foot in front of the other. We will recognize the mysterious thing we desire when we see it. Not only is...
by Marcia | Feb 20, 2015 | Living Well, Setting and Achieving Goals
Some years ago I heard about a home for abused women that taught them various skills to help them find jobs. The article quoted Andrea, who had become a Spanish-English interpreter in the courts for women who had suffered domestic violence. Andrea was passionate about...
by Marcia | Jan 2, 2015 | Living Well, Setting and Achieving Goals
New Year’s resolutions? Ugh. We’ve all been there, done that. It can be fun to read them years after the fact—all the good intentions most of which never got off the drawing board. To make changes that stick, of course, you need to do more than make a list in...
by Marcia | Dec 12, 2014 | Living Well, Setting and Achieving Goals
Habits have lots of virtues. They add comforting structure to our lives and help us counteract chaos. They give us a safety net by letting us go on automatic pilot in times of crisis. In novel situations we rely on habits just because we gravitate wherever possible...
by Marcia | Dec 5, 2014 | Living Well, Setting and Achieving Goals
During the recent Thanksgiving holiday, I took ten days off. For a full week and a half I would leave my daily responsibilities behind, I thought. I was going to rejoice, kick up my heels, and indulge in carefree play! As my holiday started, though, I found myself...
by Marcia | Nov 18, 2014 | Workplace and Career
People who are struggling to choose a career or decide whether to leave bad jobs often ask me how I became a social worker and a therapist. Although my journey was unique in many respects, I think the searching process I went through is much the same for everyone....
by Marcia | Nov 4, 2014 | Setting and Achieving Goals, Workplace and Career
We all have work we just hate doing. For me the worst thing is income tax preparation, and it happens every year. I hate adding up income and expenses. I hate wading through invoices and receipts. I hate paperwork anyway. And the whole thing takes up too much time. So...