Fathers day

If you were able to write a letter you your younger self, what would be the contents of that letter? Source: Florian Klauer/UnSplash A Letter to my 10-year-old self from an individual in long term recovery Throughout my life, I have often wondered if I had made all the correct choices in my lifetime.  I was once asked by someone as to what advice I would give to my 10-year-old self. Growing up can be challenging, and there are so many obstacles we face. If you could write a letter to your childhood self, would it be a handbook of survival, a missive of near misses? Or a soul-lifting celebration of triumph over adversity?  As an individual who is in long term recovery, I think that this is more relevant than ever before.  The following letter is what I came up with. Dear Michael, I know that this will be the strangest letter that you will ever read in your life. The reason that I say this is that I am the future version of you. I felt compelled to write this to you as a … [Read more...] about A letter to my 10-year-old self from a person in recovery

Source: herbert haseneder/flickr Rusty Schweikhart was a member of the Apollo 9 space mission in March 1969, which carried out tests for the moon landings that took place later that year. Like many astronauts, he found the experience transformational. One of his tests was to do a spacewalk around his lunar module, in which he floated 160 miles above the earth. As he gazed at the planet circling below him, he experienced a profound shift in perspective. Like all of us, he had been brought up to think in terms of different countries with borders between them. But now he lost his identity as an American astronaut, and felt "part of everyone and everything sweeping past me below." As he described it: When you go around the Earth in an hour and half, you begin to recognize that your identity is with the whole thing…You look down there and you can’t imagine how many borders and boundaries you cross, again and again and again, and you don’t even see them…[F]rom where you see it, … [Read more...] about The Psychology of Nationalism

I wrote in my last post about the large numbers of people who have sexual fantasies about someone other than their spouse. This topic taps into something I feel passionate (ahem) about. What should psychology be doing with sexual fantasies? Should we worry about them, or ignore them? Currently, most psychologists approach sexual fantasy as something potentially dangerous that should be used, like alcohol , sparingly and carefully. "Sexual fantasizing can be healthy, particularly for a reasonably healthy couple that uses their increased excitement to move toward rather than away from the partner." — Patrick Carnes So fantasy is only allowable or healthy if you're doing it with a partner with the intent of coming closer together? And then, only if you and your partner are "reasonably healthy," whatever that is? This is sure to be surprising news to the large numbers of people who report frequently having secret fantasies about other people during sex with their spouse … [Read more...] about Sick Secret Sexual Fantasies