Recently a convicted felon wrote columnist “Dear Abby” lamenting he was “on a one-way trip down a road that leads nowhere.” The man said he felt hopeless about his future behind bars and signed his name “Inmate on a Dead End.” A few weeks later, another reader of the column wrote to say: “I want| The Phoenix Spirit
It might seem like the easiest thing in the world to accept hugs, kindness and caring from another person but in fact many of us have the hardest time doing that and we may shun people who are loving to us. Most of us actually need warmth and compassion from others especially when it is| The Phoenix Spirit
I’m in treatment. Again. This time it’s my elbow. Fell on road bike, shattered the olecranon, a body part that apparently I don’t need anymore, so it was taken out during surgery. Surgery led to the question of opioids, for pain management. Codeine makes me sick. So does being in excruciating pain. This caused a| The Phoenix Spirit
A clear and committed message is essential to help our youth through the web of peer pressure and stress that is part of growing up in America. It's pretty basic, really. Kids drink to change the way they feel. They succumb to peer pressure. They're stressed out, and a few hits of pot or a| The Phoenix Spirit
Many of us fool ourselves into believing that other people care about us more than they really do. Or else we don’t grasp just how much some people have to offer us and push away real love. Too many of us are in a no-man’s land of self-deception when it comes to getting close to| The Phoenix Spirit
This article first appeared in our April 2007 issue of The Phoenix Spirit. Many people believe that punishing and explosive anger is a sign of power, confidence and "being on top of your game." In face, this is not the case at all. Disrespectful anger and even all out rage actually come out of a| The Phoenix Spirit
I'll never forget the day my friend Martin told me he just got diagnosed with cancer. As I sat sad and stupefied across from him over coffee I silently mused over the possibility that this charming old wise man may leave us way too soon. His erudition and idiosyncratic views of life are legendary. He| The Phoenix Spirit
"Every mile is two in winter." George Herbert The cold, dark days of the winter months can be a breeding ground for despair in some of us. I've battled a recurring low grade depression for many years. I never know when it will reappear but it often shows up in the fall when the days| The Phoenix Spirit
Myths are metaphoric stories that can inspire or demean us. Believing in magical elves in forests may make our imaginations soar; thinking that people with dark skin are inferior to us only devalues us. The most destructive myths are those that operate in our lives while remaining unexamined. They do bad things to us without| The Phoenix Spirit
Month: July 2018| thephoenixspirit.com
My life was ruining my life. The things I once loved had begun to consume all my time, all my relationships and all of me. From an outsider’s perspective, I looked as though I was at the peak of my profession. I’d traveled, met some amazing culinarians both here and abroad, been in magazines and| The Phoenix Spirit
Our greatest life decisions are always made on the basis of incomplete information. ~Sheldon Kopp, psychoanalyst and author Probably the most difficult decision we’ll ever make in our lifetime is deciding to stay or leave a life partner when the relationship has been continually unfulfilling. Certainly the right decision is generally unclear to us. Most| The Phoenix Spirit
Frost lined the edges of the porch windows one morning in February, 1996. My daughter had left for school. As I put milk back in the refrigerator, I noticed ice had built up on the coils again. The refrigerator was an older model and needed to be defrosted the old-fashioned way. I’d just done that| The Phoenix Spirit
Fear stalks our world, brazen and shameless. I expect fear to occasionally sneak in and out of alleys, but to see it parade through public streets as though a welcome visitor is…..frightening! There are public and private fears; they embolden each other. Like bullies on the playground, they compete for space and power. Who will| The Phoenix Spirit
It’s hard to imagine myself drinking or using again. It’s been so long since the last time I got drunk or high that it seems like an alternate life. The old me is a far away, distant memory. No more hangover headaches punishing me for the previous night. That past life of alcohol and drugs| The Phoenix Spirit
“I’m a veteran of mental illness combat,” declares a gray-haired man with years of untrimmed beard from the History Theatre stage in downtown St. Paul. David Beebee is reading from his personal writings to a crowd of friends and supporters of Vail Place, a clubhouse in Uptown for people with severe mental illness where David| The Phoenix Spirit