*Disclaimer: The post below contains humor about alcohol. If you would rather alcohol-free humor, check out Recovery Comedy.

As a follow up to last week’s post, this is a discussion about connection. Connection between humans, and between human beings and their Creator.

Funny how the need for an outlet, has been twisted and turned,
into the need for an escape, When often what we need, when we say we need an outlet, is an inlet…

At one of my former jobs, the client intake form had this question: how often do you engage in spiritual practices (e.g. yoga, meditation)?

This morning, out for a stroll, I was almost hit by a slow-moving car. Not dangerous, just annoying. I had the right of way, and an elderly woman driver was inching right through a red light. Displeased, I shot her a dirty look as I walked around her car.

Someone sent me a quote recently - one of those nice pictures overlaid with a pithy phrase. It read, “When you feel alone, it is a sign that God wants to be alone with you.”

More than most professionals, psychotherapists need to be aware of the potential for burnout. But anyone can experience emotional burnout: that irritability, loss of empathy and compassion, and general sense of depletion.

I happen to like arugula, but you may not. You may not like what you see in the mirror. And any anger may be justified. But all these vignettes have one thing in common: they help us stay exactly where we are. They reinforce stuckness. They are barriers to growth.

Boy, there was a lot of grumbling about snow today. So many adults talking about grown up things like driving, and making flights, and getting to work.

This is a post about the benefits of shutting your mouth. This is also a plug for group therapy.

The jackpot for the Powerball lottery tonight has climbed to $900 million, a record-setting payout. According to reports, about 75% of all combinations have been bought. That’s a lot of tickets sold, and a whole lot of dreams of fame and fortune.

Visiting a friend on Friday night a while back, my parents enjoyed the traditional Ashkenazi Shabbos dinner. While ladling out the chicken soup, the hostess commented, “It’s so comforting to know that - wherever you go Friday night - there will always be chicken soup, gefilte fish, and potato kugel on the table.”

That’s right. Silliness.

When was the last time you did something silly? I don’t mean a foolish mistake. I mean something downright silly, like singing your favorite song into your toothbrush microphone. Or making silly faces at yourself in the mirror.

“A tailor must not go out [on the Sabbath] with his needle pinned to his coat, nor a carpenter with his ruler behind his ear, nor a fuller with his cord behind his ear, nor a weaver with his stopper behind his ear, nor a dyer with his color swatch on his shoulder, nor a money-changer with a coin behind his ear”. - Tractate Shabbos, page 11b

We in the mental health field spend much of our time repairing damage. Repair happens in different ways, through varied interventions, and often through the vehicle of the therapeutic relationship itself.

We human beings have a funny relationship with time. We take it, we bide it, we kill it. We love to spend it; sometimes we complain about having too much of it, but more often we lament its brevity. We serve it, we say we are out it, and we wish to hit it big.

The existence of the soul is a funny thing. We know that we have a soul, we may even feel its presence. But can we tap into its spiritual power? Do we even know what it means to access the raw energy of the soul?

I was going to follow up last week’s post on compassion with a nice, slightly controversial sermon on finding compassion for our enemies. It was going to be amazing.

There is so much hatred in the world. What we need is more compassion.

The Iran deal is by now signed and delivered. But through the time the deal was being negotiated, and later debated in Congress, one thought rang clear in my mind: we are enabling Iran’s bad behavior.