Wrestling with Religion and Spirituality As a practicing psychiatrist, I am often confronted by dramatic examples of life’s “bipolar” vicissitudes.” I am not referring to the diagnosis as much as to the dramatic range of affect-laden situations and moods, ranging from loss and tragedy to love and exultation. Whether searching, or in despair or celebration, […]

I tend to be an optimist, usually retaining hope that things will turn out for the best. But I have despaired of late that… We are becoming a nation of “Two Solitudes*,”each with widely different experiences in living, thinking, perceiving and believing. There is palpable anxiety “in the air,” related to an increasingly prevalent atmosphere […]

None of us is genuinely liked by absolutely everyone. Similarly, none of us likes everybody without reservation or exception. We are a complex species, some might even say perplexing. Each of us is capable of experiencing and expressing inspiring warmth and love, as well as harboring and displaying antagonism and hate. Even the most benevolent […]

“Donald Trump and The Dalai Lama” While they are two remarkably different men, “The Donald (Trump)” and “The Dalai (Lama)” are both immersed in international fame as well as controversy. Frequently seen on television, newspapers and social media, they each have the distinction of being vigorously admired and criticized. They are revered by millions of […]

                                    Belonging To ‘Just a Group of Guys’      Our original “Group of Guys” came about during a dinner conversation over twenty years ago, when one guy (not I) suggested that the three men there form a […]

I Am A “Real Parent”! Parental pride in their children is universal, even if one is not from Lake Wobegon (where “all the children are above average”), and as a biological parent of three sons, I too have always considered them to be wonderful. It’s natural to praise the “products” of our personal DNA and […]

I can’t believe that we are all turning eighty this year! “We” refers to a class of fifty children who graduated from our Jewish elementary school in 1951 when we were 12-13 years old. And recently, 67 years later, we octogenarians held a class reunion! Many of us were first generation children, offspring of Jewish […]

I recently visited remarkable Machu Picchu, the ancient and magically beautiful Andes mountain community constructed some 500 years ago for the leader of the then-thriving Incan Empire. Many exquisitely preserved walls of buildings still stand in this breath-taking setting atop the steep slopes of the Peruvian Andes. The entire site is ethereal, evoking feelings of awe […]

Without warning, and out of the blue, I’ve just succumbed to a terrible flu… Malaise, fever, cough and fatigue, have pushed me way out of my league, Have affected my outlook and my mood, I’ve become dour, cantankerous, even rude… I deeply abhor this oppressive crud, which feels like oozing, trapping mud, Suffocating and asphyxiating me, overwhelming […]

“I Am Not An Elitist! (Or Am I?)”   ‘Elitism’ has become a “dirty word,” at least among some people who feel that elites are despicable. I hereby declare that “I am not an Elitist” (…or am I?) As I write this self-serving statement, I’m reminded of the words, “I am Not a Crook!” spoken by Richard Nixon […]