…And I Am Young Again, Like the Mountains Under the Stars

*This entry is a deviation from my usual writing, I decided to be more forthcoming about myself — a somewhat autobiographical piece follows.

I have been meditating (on and off) for 20+ years, it started out of curiosity and with an intention of adopting a practice that aligned itself with my conception of ‘things that a spiritual person does’. I desperately wanted to live a waking life of spiritual awareness, one in opposition to the distressing and omnipresent phenomena of a world in suffering. I wanted to bring that light into my own life, in the hope that I would contribute to balancing the scales. 
I looked to texts, figures, and philosophies that I admired and dove into meditation with the best of intentions. I attempted to manifest equanimity.

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Dear White Folks: You Have Been Asked To Do The Work.

Dear white folks…

I often read and hear white people reacting defensively with regard to people of color speaking about their experiences within Eurocentric environments, and in referencing a generalized view of experiencing ‘white people’ as a social (and global) phenomenon. I see white authors and commentators venting their frustrations at being ‘lumped in’ with themes of white supremacy, or being identified as benefiting from white privilage. I read through the push-back and the denials of what is being told to them (by many, many people of color) — that it cannot possibly be accurate, or a fair representation. I hear claims of reverse racism, of bigotry, of well-you-are-doing-it-too-so-you-are-no-better-and-I-don’t-have-to-accept-what-you-are-saying… I hear the complaints loud and clear. White folks do not like to be judged by the color of their skin, or associated with the behavior of others within their racial and cultural group.

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On Why You Shouldn’t Be Writing Articles about Psychology

Hello,

I’m a licensed Clinical Social Worker, a mental health professional, and I’d like to talk to you about something that has been concerning me — I’ve seen an increase in people writing articles about psychology who are not psychologists, or mental health professionals. This really concerns me, mainly because when I read these articles I see some common mistakes that are potentially damaging, or misleading at best.

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Why Lazy Privilege is lethal Privilege

Dear dominate culture humans,

– yes that means you, white & cis people (especially you, white-cis-males), you are representative of the main cultural lens of our shared Western society. I’m not blaming you, nor am I shaming you, we are just talking about facts. The fact is that all things pass through this lens, meaning thatdemographic is the litmus of acceptability. It is the yardstick of normalicy. Meaning that *our* culture is (in some shape or form) represented in the majority of media, the majority of society, and as the majority rule. Meaning that *you* are able to sit at a cafe table, in middle-of-the-road clothing, in any Western country, and pass as almost invisible. That is an amazing privilege, to be so representative of what is normal, that you blend in almost anywhere to the extent that you don’t really exist. What a delightfully free and relaxing experience.

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On Suicide and Facing It With Radical Love

As a psychotherapist I am infrequently familiar with suicide, I experience those prior to an act, those post an attempt, and those who live on after someone has taken their own life. I am more frequently acquainted with patients for whom life has lost meaning, or that their place within life has lost value.

Consequentially, I have come to view suicide through a rational lens, although it continues to appear as the most irrational of acts.

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On Kindness, Compassion, ​and Meaning

If you have a chance, take a moment to foster kindness.

Look for an opportunity, tell yourself that you will elicit one act of kindness today. It doesn’t need to be complex, it doesn’t need to cost money, it doesn’t have to take up too much of your time. All you have to do is give an extra big piece of what we commonly refer to as your heart — that is the energy center within you that is the seat of your compassion. You will become aware of its activation by a feeling of ‘opening up’, of becoming larger than yourself.

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