I remember my brother-in-law talking about driving his wife and brand new baby home from the hospital. He said he was nervous. And tentative. And he thought about every turn of the wheel leading to a potential car crash, and he babied the gas pedal like a nervous grandma. Suddenly every car on the road …
The chandelier in the laundry room
I put a chandelier in the laundry room this week. Well, actually, Husband put it up. Whimsy. That’s what it is. Whimsy. Basement laundry rooms are places of damp and dark and rough unfinishedness. Furnaces, tanks, and ducts. The underbelly of the house. Practical without any flash. A room of work…there’s not a lot of …
Reflections of a morning of snarkiness and grumpiness
You know those times which none of us want to admit having, but we all do. The ones where we are glad the windows are shut and the curtains drawn because there exists a side of us we’d just rather not admit to anyone? Yeah, Sabrina Friesen had one of those mornings. Today. Sabrina is …
An Open Letter to Ms. Rona Ambrose
Dear Ms. Ambrose, Wow…did you see this coming? Your role as leader of the Official Opposition? I know your party was anticipating a re-election, with Mr. Harper continuing to be Prime Minister. And now–you’re the interim leader of the Conservative party. That’s an enormous job to land in. I applaud your courage to take on …
Self Compassion: Being loving to your suffering
I’ve had self-compassion on my mind lately. I gave a workshop to a group of foster parents on the topic last week, and have had a couple of profound conversations with colleagues about being compassionate towards ourselves. Self compassion: gives staying power to those in helping professions. It takes a lot of energy to …
Introducing…Carolyn Klassen
This is not your typical “introducing our newest therapist/intern” blog. I’m introducing me…my new name. Same therapist…different name. Used to be Carolyn Bergen. Now…Carolyn Klassen. I got married in April. And when I got home from my honeymoon, I was still a Bergen… You see, I got a whole new pack of Junior Tribe Members …
The Hidden Destruction of Inverse Scorekeeping
I read Donald Miller’s Scary Close book late last fall…and it was one of the best books I’d read in a long time. It was funny and clever and engaging, and all about relationships, my favourite topic. Y’know it’s a good book, when months after it’s been read, it comes back to bite you in …
Rumblin’ and reckonin’
I heard a few stories from a few friends in the last few days (not from clients, btw–I don’t ever tell client stories on the blog): A woman in her early 30’s tells the story of her parents divorcing when she is her teens. Several months after the separation, her dad called the children together …
The story of the story
Picture this: Four children are lying on the dock and happily playing looking at the minnows. They are chatting a bit back and forth, adding sound effects as the little fishies swim back and forth in the water. All of a sudden, one child looks up and notices something: “Hey guys, l like sand. Let’s …
Inside Out’s Flaw: Male Vulnerability is really real
Therapist Heather Pringle writes… Are men allowed to feel sad feelings and let others know they are sad? What if we lived in a world that allowed men to express that sadness to each other in ways that helped them each feel less alone? In one scene of the movie Inside Out, we get to see …