Do you ever get super anxious about a project? Uptight until a particular task is done? Are you nervous or antsy until you reach your goal, and fulfilled and relieved when it is done?

Have you experienced trauma in your life? If you’re reading this, you probably have. Trauma doesn’t need to be something that has happened to you. It can be experiencing something through learning about it.

Anyone who has been to Israel knows that there is more to the Holy Land than shawarma and shakshuka. There’s a certain energy, a spiritual richness infused into every stone, store, and street. It resides among the hills and valleys, and in every taxicab. It’s in the very air.

Scared. Angry. Sad. Grieving. Terrified. Hopeless.

I was joined for breakfast this morning by a nice family from Chicago. Last night, they told me, they were at a restaurant near the Old City when suddenly someone yelled in Hebrew, "Under the tables! Immediately!" Everyone got down under their tables, some turning their tables over to use as shields. Plates of food shattered on the ground. Police and soldiers rushed in to secure the area.

I have the extremely good fortune to be in Israel for the upcoming Succos holiday. I haven't been here in a long time, and I had forgotten what an experience just walking the streets can be.

Do you know those times when your expectations are so overwhelmingly exceeded that you can’t help feeling giddy? The “wow” circuits in your brain keep firing? Your phone camera keeps coming out to try to capture the moment? I had such a moment this evening.

This week marked a milestone in Her Royal Majesty’s queenship. Queen Elizabeth II, Head of the Commonwealth and Supreme Governor of the Church of England, is now the longest-reigning monarch in the country’s history.

Something is missing. Life is moving fast, things are getting done, but something is missing. We do more nowadays, know more about our planet, hear news from across the globe faster than we ever have. But something is missing.

"When you go out to war against your enemies and Hashem your G-d will deliver him into your hands" (Devarim/Deuteronomy 21)

The Buddhist teacher Ajahn Chah once remarked while holding a beautiful teacup, “To me this cup is already broken. Because I know its fate, I can enjoy it fully here and now.”

How can we find Joy?

Where do we look?

Can Joy be bought? If yes, where is it sold?

Is Joy in a lottery ticket? At a Broadway show? At the bottom of a Starbucks cup?

Endings. Our lives are full of them; that’s the very definition of mortality. Death is certainly an ending; divorce is too. Moving is an ending, and so is changing jobs.

I’ve heard a lot of stories of late about teenagers in trouble. You name it, they’re doing it. And along with these teens come parents: hurting, scared, angry. The parents want their child to behave; the teen just wants to be left alone (at least, so they say). It’s a recipe for disaster.

“Attention is the rarest and purest form of generosity”

- Simone Weil

Have you ever wondered if your therapist is angry with you? Did you say something or do something that got an angry reaction? Was there a particular look on his or her face which seemed to indicate anger or frustration?

In my practice, I often use metaphors and stories to illustrate a point. The image of an anchored ship in the ocean, slowly drifting yet somehow also secured in place, serves as a metaphor for a dialectic or mindfulness meditation. Parables about leaps of faith serve to inspire and validate.

What do social workers and shawarma joints have in common?

They’re both open late, offer comfort, and leave an impression with you that lasts through the week.

We social workers have some terminology confusion, some branding obfuscation. I'm sure most of the readers of this blog know what a social worker does. But while doing some networking this weekend (with people less familiar with the mental health field), I ran into some issues.

Once we establish the why of self-care for therapists (see last week’s post), the next question might be: how? But the thought of making a list of self care actions doesn’t appeal to me at the moment. Maybe another post.