Viral Vicissitudes

  March On, on behalf of Women How It Began: The Month of March, that is, with the entire month of March being designated as "Women's History Month", with March 8th being designated as "International Women's Day" (which I formally acknowledged here: "Happy IWD!"). The theme chosen for this year is/was "Choose to challenge": "A challenged world is an alert world. And from challenge comes change" We hope so because... How It's Been: Which is hard on them, women, historically, recently, throughout the past pandemic year: regardless of the political proclivity of the newspaper, TV reporter, or journalist, all forms of media have been replete with articles documenting the significant disadvantage women have experienced worldwide throughout the pandemic, throughout modern history and, as one syndicated financial adviser informed us last week, for many years to come into the future. This, due in part to:  -the burdens of caregiving...

  Masterminded, Managed Meltdowns...Titrated Temper Tantrums...Excogitated Exclamations?! AYK?! How much more oxy'moronic' can you get?! Originally from the Wall Street Journal, recently reprinted in the Reader's Digest, "The Art of a Good Meltdown" elucidates the 'upsides' of a tension induced tantrum: "A meltdown is the body's natural mechanism to let go, to cleanse itself of painful emotions". A quote included in the article from a psychologist specializing in the science of 'happiness' (see March 20th post). This, cites the author, Elizabeth Bernstein (a columnist for the WSJ who holds a master's degree in journalism from Columbia and did a fellowship in 'brain science' at MIT), "...especially after you've had to hold it together through a pandemic and a quarantine...". She further posits that, while meltdowns (those of both a financial nature with which the WSJ more often concerns itself, as well as thos...

'Current' Events: Sinking, Shrinking, Stinking... Stuck: 'Currently' as we speak here, the HUGE container ship "Ever Given" remains stuck at about a 45 degree angle in the Suez Canal, a man made shortcut (constructed over ten years from 1859-69) between the Mediterranean and the Red Sea, which has caused a HUGE traffic jam: as the BBC reported, a long "queue" (the brits seem to love using this word when they know us yanks are listening) of ships, tankers has formed, which has stalled a worldwide supply line -- I sure hope the stuff I ordered through Amazon is not on that ship, at least not in the bottom most container aboard, as those construing ways to lighten the load are thinking of ways to get the hundreds of containers off... Gonna need a bigger... drone (?!) As the collective efforts of tugboats, attempts to dislodge the hull and prop from the Suez sludge have failed, the focus has turned to airlifting, via cranes and aircraft (primarily helico...

A Rollout of...new CVTT (COVID Text Terms), an abbreviated post, COVID abbreviations LYBC (Lest You Be Confused): COVID Abbreviations:                                                                DCW (Don't Confuse With):  AM                                                                                                PM (many have gotten out of whack) As - Asymptomatic                                                              ...

Laid Bare, Barely Evident Don't look now--stretching the truth, stretch marks: So, even teens, young adults, congregating coeds in close proximity, sans masks (most scantily clad elsewhere as well), celebrating the rites of spring, claiming their ____ amendment rights as college students (at least that's what the report characterized them as, but wondered what and how many credits they were registered for, based on the content of the interviews, containing mostly one/two syllable words)...becomes an opportunity for a reporter to cite "the pandemic has once again laid bare the inequities and racist tendencies in our society and law enforcement...". This article/interview (which I first heard aired on BBC between one of their anchors and a reporter 'on the scene') is now one among many on the theme of "laying bare", regarding what difficulties in our world and more locally in our nation the stresses and strains of the pandemic have revealed. Ranging fr...

Shaming, Blaming, Faming: It's what's trending... CelebrateUS Interruptus? It's only been 24 hours since we all put on a HAPPY face, in celebrating IHD (see arch 20th post for an infusion of "HAPPY" if you missed it). Whether we were in fact experiencing this state of mind and emotion in its fullness, or tried to 'fake it till I make it'. In either case, opening up my newsfeed this morning, I am reminded that, while we continue to have plenty to be grateful for and opportunities to express gratitude to each other even when distanced, there were current events reminding me of the time honored propensity of shunning shame and blame, while claiming fame. Even a quick glimpse of national or international news reaffirms this, ranging from whose to blame for the inequitable distribution of vaccines, to the horrific events overseas in which children are now being used as targets of terror, to the self-congratulations for the swift delivery of 'stimulus checks...

Happy "International Day of 😀"! Just in Time: Not sure if Jayme Illien would have anticipated this, that the 2021 IDH would coincide with the world still struggling with all of the vicissitudes of the pandemic due to COVID-19, and that it would coincide with the vernal equinox this year (can vary by about a day depending on where you reside), AND would coincide with me writing to you about strategies to sustain this thing called "HAPPINESS", despite the world and local events of which we continue to be bombarded in the daily news cycle. Mr. Illien, who spent many of his childhood years in a Mother Teresa orphanage, repeatedly petitioned the UN to endorse the idea of "Happiness" being a basic human right, as well as an ongoing economic-political system aimed at ending inequality throughout the globe. He was partially successful in the former quest when the UN passed a resolution in 2012 and started to formally acknowledge IDH in 2013, which has been celebr...

DAW...GEQ...OTC...FDA...WHO...WTO...THC...CBD...OMG! First Dibs, Second Chances: "First Dibs Second Chances" is an eBay store, whereas "A Second Chance Couture" is a family owned and operated NYC based luxury reseller, whereas "1st Dibs" is an online furniture store website, whereas "Second Chance" was a 2016 TV series...There, I think I'm covered--at least I've complied with the spirit of the law, in acknowledging my sources, in not stealing or infringing on intellectual property, a topic I'm about to cover here...        For it was just a matter of time, as I predicted in a few previous posts that, after assiduous effort over a protracted period of time successfully brought some vaccines to us, in combatting this dreadful CV-19, that people not getting it quickly enough or in sufficient numbers, would start loud protests to the World Health Organization, but also to the countries who invested an incredible amount of time, money, and...

Pritchard Picked a Peck of Pickled Pre-Pandemic People; how many Pickled Pre-Pandemic People...? Necessity, the Father of... As I worked out this morning while listening to "World News", it included a discussion on another form of exercise that has increased in popularity throughout the world throughout the pandemic, partly owing to its ability to distance, and to being able to play the sport 'Inside, Out' (this time nothing to do with the movie!)--the latter includes my neighbor's driveway, and finally the nominal costs involved...namely, "Pickle Ball!". While many of us have only heard of this surging sport (enough so that there is even talk of it making into the Olympics!), the article this morning reminds us it has been around for more than a half century now. That is, in 1965, Joel Pritchard (who served in the U.S. Congress and as lieutenant governor in the state of Washington) and a few buddies, having arrived home after golf and finding their fami...

Footnotes on ANXIETY: Eu, Me, Dis, and Dat... ANXIETY, by any other name: So you thought you were rid of ME , at least done reading about ME in this blog. The author dude sure seems to have a liking for ME , eh? Well, just like in real life, " I'M back!" Your friend AND foe, ANXIETY, but this time sneaking in just under your awareness, under the pseudonym (or alias if you prefer)  STRESS! (you know, how some authors and artists engage in this type of name trickery, either to avoid not ticking off their fan base when they cross genres, to create intrigue, or some other reason they will have to tell you themselves). In this case, I have to ask, if it's actually the other way around, as the character STRESS has certainly been around before the time that MY character showed up on center stage. OK, it's time that me, the real author, wrestled the pen away from both these characters and explained... The Character Evolution: When I formally entered the field of clinical ...

Back by (un)Popular Demand: One more (actually three) more jabs at ANXIETY! Calibrating, Vaccinating, Ceasing (?)... Core Training: Among the five core feelings featured in "Inside Out', Fear (AKA Anxiety) continues to get the most play in my office, with Sad, Anger, and Joy competing for second, third, fourth place, and Disgust intermittently overtaking the others depending on what's in the news, and then falling off again. Yes, Anxiety, the leading candidate for coming out as the top vote getter for the category "Lead Character in the Pandemic of 2020-21", if there was such an award. In reality a lot of you, in contrast to what they do on "The Voice", would vote Anxiety off your team of emotions: My receptionist, answering the phone any given day, 2020: "So, what seem to be bothering your son/daughter, that prompted you to call?" Caller: "They're just on edge all the time, not themselves lately...with all the changes due to the pand...

Happy IWD! March 8, 2021, Worldwide Space and Time: Because I realized late yesterday that today is "International Women's Day", I am running short on time to properly acknowledge this special occasion. Regardless of how much time I was allotted to think, reflect, and prepare, it would prove insufficient for the space I have here, to acknowledge the number of women who have been instrumental in my life. Instead, I choose to present a few quotes, ranging from the ridiculous to the sublime, as an offer of admiration and appreciation for all of You (You know who you are): #ChooseToChallenge: "We've Come A Long Way Baby"! While many of you will think this is a throw back to Virginia Slims commercial from the 60's into the 70's, celebrating the 'equality' of women to smoke openly (and try to catch the rate of carcinogenic diseases of men, congratulations!), I was thinking more about the lyrics from Loretta Lynn's 1979 album by the same name, i...

Victimology: A Spectrum...Spectator to Hater (?) "Were all in this together..." We have all been at different places on the spectrum or continuum of victimology, ranging from being a witness (whether we took action or remained passive), fallen victim to someone/something, or unwittingly (I hope) victimized another. Finally, we have had a range of both internal and external responses. A HUGE topic with HUGE implications in my field of psychology, the size and scope of which only permits me to skim the surface in this space, but in such a way that will allow you to reflect on the personal applications, then and now. I choose to do so in part because of the increase in frequency I have been hearing people feel like victims throughout the past year, no doubt tied to many challenging/unwelcome circumstances here and afar that we have been experiencing lately, many of which are beyond our control. We've all been witness to it: As I was reminded this morning a few times listenin...

Days of Our Lives: This Day, This Moment in Time A Dickens of a Time: "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times..." as Mr. Dickens cites, a Tale of Two Cities, that is, a historical novel published in 1859, in part recounting conditions that led up to the French Revolution and the Reign of Terror (and you think we  live in divisive times, read on!). In any case, I lead with this famous quote today to acknowledge and illustrate that we all have times in our lives that we can cite as being the best and worst, sometimes occurring in tandem (e.g. "it was both a blessing and a curse"). We can also testify what times of each day tend to be our most, least favorite, when we tend to be at our best, or not-so-much. When our personal anxiety and/or sadness rears its head more. Depending on your age, you have become well aware of your own personal circadian rhythms and their implications for energy, productivity, and variations in moods. Over the last year, many of ...