In the past few weeks, I’ve felt like each time the spring sunshine warmed me, it also drenched me in nostalgia. Fewer words more aptly describe a feeling than this one. Nostalgia is about more than recollection; it is about the bittersweet nature of specific memories.

I’m nerdy about language, so out of curiosity I looked up the etymology of this word. It’s roots are in the Greek ‘nostos’, meaning ‘to return home’ and ‘algos’, meaning ‘pain’. It evolved into a term for homesickness. I guess that still holds true today, because it tends to relate to a longing for something it isn’t possible to have. Whether that’s re-experiencing a moment of happiness or returning to a far away place we still love.

I found some resonance in the roots of this word today. That’s because what I am nostalgic about right now was a time both of intense pain…

I will not post anything again for a while today, unless there is breaking news. You need time to read this article in full.

It is a long article by Jane Mayer of the New Yorker, who has written major books about the dark money fueling rightwing politics.

The article is an in-depth analysis of the role of billionaire Robert Mercer and his daughter Rebekah in the creation of the Trump presidency.

It is a long read. It is an important read, to understand the threat to our democracy posed by the power of unaccountable billionaires.

It is fascinating, like watching a car crash, in this case, a political tragedy.

It begins with the shocking news that Patrick Caddell, who long ago was a pollster for Jimmy Carter, is now helping Trump behind the scenes.

Then it gets into the life and personality and actions of Robert Mercer, a…

Dear Friends

Do you sometimes feel frustrated with your Therapist? I’m sorry to say that, in a selfish way, I hope you can relate to this little story.

I’m looking for a new therapist and I had an initial phone call with a woman who presented on the internet as experienced and wise. I explained that I was 57 and that my father began the sexual abuse when I was 6. I was inviting her to recognise that I had survived for over half a century. I explained that I had experienced numerous therapists; and that I had made progress with them in working through different aspects of my life.  I explained to this wise woman that I do best when I have a long-term relationship with a therapist with whom I can do pieces of work whenever the need arises. I explained that I generally do okay but at 57…

Wise words from a Republican:

“Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies, in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed.
This world in arms is not spending money alone. It is spending the sweat of its laborers, the genius of its scientists, the hopes of its children…
This is not a way of life at all, in any true sense. Under the cloud of threatening war, it is humanity hanging from a cross of iron.”

–Dwight D. Eisenhower, US President, 1953 -1961