While I’m an elder, I hadn’t given a lot of thought to dying, that is until my brother, who’s 20 months younger, announced in...
Thinking About Death
While I’m an elder, I hadn’t given a lot of thought to dying, that is until my brother, who’s 20 months younger, announced in a recent late-night phone call that he had been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. (To preserve my brother’s [...]
Pat Taub
Dalai Lama10
Practicing Kindness to Overcome Despair
Despair has become my unwelcome visitor. Every time I read about the deteriorating conditions of life in Gaza my stomach churns. Tears come easily. This weekend I took myself to task, realizing I better come up with a strategy ASAP or I will be swallowed up by my despair over Gaza. Suddenly I remembered what worked for me in the past. [...]
Pat Taub
Living in Scary Times
“I’m terrified the escalating war in the Ukraine will become nuclear.” “I’m frightened of the climate my children/grandchildren will inherit.” “It’s so depressing to see abortion rights being chipped away.” These are among the comments I hear from friends, who, like me, worry about the future. We live in scary times. [...]
Pat Taub
Adding Joy to Your Life
Human tensions are running high these days. We’re facing global warming, an escalating war in Ukraine, racial tensions, and economic hardships. While we can’t control how life challenges us, we can control how we respond. If we pause and put the world’s problems on the back burner, we can make room for joy. But how, you must be wondering? [...]
Pat Taub
Kindness is Essential
It is a bit embarrassing to have been concerned with the human problem all one’s life and find at the end that one has no more to offer by way of advice than ‘try to be a little kinder.’ –Aldous Huxley Huxley isn’t alone. The Buddhist tradition emphasizes kindness and compassion as central to a meaningful life. [...]
Pat Taub
Play, Laugh, Be Silly and Reduce Your Stress
I consider myself lucky because I got the play gene. While my family provided me with enough drama to propel me into therapy for decades, they also gave me a delight in play, in whimsy and in just being silly. We loved playing practical jokes. A box of rubber chocolates lay in wait for unsuspecting guests: a whoopie cushion could be placed [...]
Pat Taub
The Week I Plunged into Despair
Last week was not a good news week for me. It left me full of despair. I agonized over the Biden’s administration failure to advance their social programs designed to help those in need, while increasing oil drilling in defiance of climate change. To make matters worse the saber rattling over Putin’s troops on the Ukraine border, kept [...]
Pat Taub
Learning to be Positive in Hard Times
I wake up most mornings vowing to be positive, but it’s hard to maintain a positive mindset when it’s bitter cold out, eliminating a walk, and when contacts with friends and family are relegated to phone calls and Zoom. The longing for in-person contacts sends my positive intentions out the window. It became clear that I needed an approach [...]
Pat Taub
Facing Our Fears
“I’m terrified of what Trump is doing to our country.” “I’m frightened of the climate my grandchildren will inherit.” “I can hardly bear to read the news any more. Each day seems to bring another disaster.” These are concerns I frequently hear from friends. Many days I feel the same way, but I also recognize that giving [...]
Pat Taub
A Self-Care Skeptic
I had a lousy week. I fractured my foot. I was freaked out by the more-depressing-than-usual headlines of amped-up hate speech, of an American journalist being brutally murdered by the Saudis, of rampant voter suppression and on and on. There seemed to be no end to bad news. To lift my spirits I tried the familiar self-care suggestions. [...]
Pat Taub
Discovering Joy
Sometimes a book comes into your life at exactly the right moment, offering a path forward that was formerly invisible to you. This was my experience with The Book of Joy, a week-long conversation between the Dalai Lama and Archbishop Desmond Tutu, aptly facilitated by Douglas Abrams, the book’s editor. When a friend recommended The [...]
Pat Taub