“The human race has one really effective weapon, and that is laughter.” Mark Twain When my dad died recently, I never thought our first reaction would be to joke about it. Mom and the four of us grown kids were on the bed with him, holding him. The hospice chaplain had just joined us. After …

Too many of us today have almost no idea who we really are. Nor do we even know that we have no idea. We simply exist without a clue and hope for the best. If we ran into some sharp corner of ourselves we wouldn’t know how to round if off. Nor would we even …

This article was originally published in the August 2006 issue of The Phoenix Spirit. Some numbers and reports about smoking may have since changed. Stop me if you’ve heard this one before: Smoking is bad for you. For more than 55 years, we’ve known that tobacco is bad for our health — so bad that …

The Phoenix · Where Is Your Hope? Is your hope these days in a vaccine? A new political or economic vision? More public attention to ending racism or climate warming? Whatever we look to outside of ourselves is always transient. A more reliable basis for hope comes from within our own hearts and minds. What …

I was in the middle of what I thought was a soulful, honest share when a voice bellowed from the back of the room. I turned to see a crusty old guy, holding an unlit cigar, who looked impatient for me to either finish baring my soul or move on to a different subject. “It’s …

We’ll feature an expert in the mental health and substance use disorder field to answer questions Q: How can body awareness impact recovery? Many approaches to addiction recovery incorporate a variety of practices that improve body awareness, including yoga, meditation, mindfulness-based interventions and CranioSacral therapy. These practices foster awareness of inner bodily sensations, which may …

This past spring, when the COVID-19 pandemic struck, people in need of behavioral health services were blindsided. While in-person treatment programs were considered essential services and continued, many people, especially those at higher risk, stayed away. Even more, outpatient services and other supportive services were unable to offer people the help that they needed. This …

“We are not enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies. Though passion may have strained, it must not break our bonds of affection. The mystic chords of memory will swell when again touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of our nature.” —From Abraham Lincoln’s first Inaugural address March 4, 1861 …

The following is part three in a series by author, George Lewis.  The United States is a reluctant world power. All eyes are on Europe watching and waiting as Hitler rises to power. It is 1933 and America is still feeling the sting of its participation in World War I which it had just ended …

That night­–fall of my senior year–was a Saturday night, so I headed to a party. A bonfire tucked in the woods off Hwy. 55, where we could drink underage to excess. I had a bottle of Seagram’s in my jacket along with a liter of Seven Up. Didn’t take long before I was smashed. I …