The Weirdest Test You’ll Ever Have
If you’ve been referred for a sleep study, here’s what to expect My preparations for bed have taken nearly an hour My sleep technician, a calm and confident woman with a 50s family sitcom-motherly vibe, has carefully attached a complex network of electrodes to my wrist, chest, and abdomen, their slender wires snaking down one leg and attaching at my ankle. Sensors are positioned inside my nostrils; a pulse oximeter gently squeezes my left index finger. More electrodes are attached to my head. Each one erupts in another wire, forming a particolored cascade of electronic spaghetti which my technician refers to…
Here’s Why Things Are Going to Get Even Weirder
AI is a Genie With No Bottle Feel like you can’t keep up with the pace of change? It’s not you, and it’s not your age. Sure, you and I might not have yet mastered TikTok while our kids have already moved on to Likee or some other app we’ve never heard of. Maybe you’re still tiptoeing around Twitter while its disgruntled users are bailing out in favor of Mastodon or something else with a learning curve that makes you want to take a nap instead. Don’t worry about it. Human experience is about to plunge into a phase that nobody…
Unmasking Imposter Syndrome
Not Fake, Formidable! Last week I wrote about my current internal struggle I described my decision to disrupt the negative thought spirals that have been giving me unnecessary pain by recruiting professional help. Maybe you’ve had something like this happen: you have a stubborn ache in your knee or neck or wherever, one you put up with for months until you realize that not only is it not going away on its own but it’s getting worse. Also, it’s making you grumpy and reluctant to do things you otherwise enjoy. At last, you schedule a visit to a doctor. On…
Let’s Rethink This
A tuneup for self-talk I haven’t been my best friend lately In fact, if I had a friend who behaved toward me the way I’ve been treating myself recently, I’d tell her to piss off and come back when she’d fixed her attitude. Outwardly, I’m a very nice person. I’m confident that most people who meet me would agree. I’m friendly, interested in people, fairly empathetic, and I like (almost) everyone I meet. I’m not easily offended or judgmental or terribly critical. Inwardly, it’s a different story. At least it has been lately. Lately, it’s as though I’ve had the…
Not the Dog Story I Wanted to Tell
Good intentions, meet limitations It was a rough week in our house On Thursday, we were full of excitement, hope, and nerves. Taking on a new dog meant changing our placid household dynamics — since we had to say goodbye to our beloved dog Molly in September, it’s just been my husband and me along with our cat. Molly had come to us when she was five years old and her breeder liberated her from a situation of neglect and possible abuse. He couldn’t keep her but she needed a home and he thought she might be a good fit…
The Drop-in Support Group for Endangered Persons in Idaho
We’re running out of chairs Good evening everyone! Let’s get started Therapist: I’m your group facilitator, Mason Meanswell, PsyD, Ph.D., LCSW, MFT, BFD. For those of you who are here for the first time, make yourselves comfortable. Sorry we’re a little crowded! Maybe some of you regulars — law enforcement folks, armed services members, medical first responders, anybody in a uniform — could scooch over and make room for some of our guests? Fish and Game Warden: What about us? None of you flatlanders think about us until a badger gets trapped in your garage. Therapist: Absolutely, and I appreciate…
Stop Speaking GOAT
You’re not still saying that, are you? This year’s Banished Words list is out Actually, it’s been out since New Year’s Eve, but if you’re still using banished words, the year is young. Now that the Super Bowl is behind us, we can focus our energy on clearing up our communication. Jargon, buzzwords, nonsense terms, lazy filler words, all the trite and overused terms that seep from popular culture into our speech and writing like toxic sludge — they’re tantamount to the worn-out junk that accumulates in your closets, the dustbunnies under your bed, the mystery containers full of fuzzy…
She Meant it as a Compliment, But . . .
It’s what you’d say to an old lady Here’s how it went down I was leaving the store just as she was entering. A dark-haired woman, attractive, probably in her late 30s or early 40s. She swept in through the double doors on a gust of energy and fresh air, her companion, another woman, trailing her. Seeing me in passing, she smiled brightly. “Oh, you look so pretty!” she said. “Thank you,” I said, a little startled. She swept past me. The whole exchange took two seconds, tops. But I stepped out of that store into an altered reality. I’d walked…
What’s Better Than a Dog Story?
101 dog stories, on sale now! It’s fun to share good news You’ve seen and probably read at least one of the 250-plus Chicken Soup for the Soul books that have been published since the first one was released in 1993. And now my stories appear in one! Started by motivational speakers Jack Canfield and Mark Victor Hansen, in response to demand from their audiences, the Chicken Soup for the Soul concept was based on the idea that people can help one another by sharing their stories. They put together 101 of their favorite true-life tales they’d gathered and put…