by Stephen Rowley | Mar 13, 2018 | Essays
“Let your heart break and drop the story” is attributed to American Tibetan Buddhist and author Pema Chödrön. Her quote is often cited as a prescription for the first and essential stage of recovery from devastating loss, life changing trauma, and inconsolable...Read More
by Stephen Rowley | Mar 13, 2018 | Essays
No one likes depression. When we become depressed, our first instinct is to escape its debilitating symptoms. These symptoms include feelings of hopelessness, an aching monotony of mind, body, and spirit, and even thoughts and actions to extinguish its agony by any...Read More
by Stephen Rowley | Mar 13, 2018 | Essays
I’m suspicious about anxiety because everyone talks about it as the same thing for each of us. I’m not so sure. There is a big difference in feeling anxious about a loved one fighting cancer and feeling anxious about a field goal kicker lining up for a kick to win the...Read More
by Stephen Rowley | Mar 13, 2018 | Essays
Volumes have been written about the “Self.” Of course, the use of the lower case self (myself, yourself) or the use of self- in a hyphenated word is ubiquitous in...Read More
by Stephen Rowley | Mar 13, 2018 | Essays
Mindful meditation has become a standard therapeutic tool for reducing stress and achieving greater clarity of mind—helping us to be more fully present in the moment. And because of its contemplative religious roots, mindfulness meditation also bears a spiritual...Read More
by Stephen Rowley | Mar 13, 2018 | Essays
I wonder what today’s youth, as they age and mature, will think about the contribution of the Selfie to mankind? Critics pass judgment on the Selfie phenomenon as a form of mass narcissistic self-indulgence—a visual parallel to Macbeth’s famous quote: “It is a...Read More
by Stephen Rowley | Mar 13, 2018 | Essays
The number of school children diagnosed with Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is a staggering 5 Million. But I reject the notion that the ADHD epidemic is a crisis of mass psychological malfunctioning of American kids. Rather, I believe it is the...Read More
by Stephen Rowley | Mar 13, 2018 | Essays
I am indebted to Stanford University Professor James G. March for his inspiring and counter-intuitive lessons about Miguel de Cervantes’ iconic literary character Don Quixote de la Mancha. Although Jim offered his insights in the context of teaching about...Read More
by Stephen Rowley | Mar 13, 2018 | Essays
We’ve all witnessed a spectacle of a screaming child at a grocery store clamoring for food or candy that he doesn’t really need or wants—triggering an argument with the parent that seems almost staged because it’s so familiar. To appear in control, the parent, on...Read More
by Stephen Rowley | Mar 13, 2018 | Essays
There is an old joke retold and commented on by Woody Allen in his movie Annie Hall: “A guy walks into a psychiatrist’s office and says, hey doc, my brother’s crazy! He thinks he’s a chicken. Then the doc says, why don’t you turn him in? Then...Read More
