A colleague asked me at a cocktail party, “What do I get out of writing my blog?” and I thought that’s a great question.

Every week, I come up with another idea to write about and I do it for free. Sometimes, the thoughts just flow – and other times … not so much.

So, what keeps me writing after 3 ½…

When I was taking my Divorce Mediation coursework, I had a hard time relating to the lessons about pets and divorce. You see, at the time, I wasn’t a pet owner, and I had difficulty understanding how someone can become so wrought with anxiety over the fate of a family pet.

But, now that our beloved, “Nacho,” has come into our home, I completely understand.

For many pet owners, the family pet or pets are members of the family, on a lesser-scale than…

What happens inside your brain when someone gives you feedback?

Do you cringe and wait for the criticism? Do you feel inferior to the person who is doling their comments to you? Do your defenses kick into overdrive? Do you freeze and just shut down?

Based on your answers, you may not be surprised that people who receive feedback apply it only 30% of the time, according to neuroscientist Kevin Ochsner.  That’s a pretty low percentage.

So how…

Funny those things from your childhood that you remember.

My mom always said that “friend’ was an overused word in the English language. It turns out that she may be right.

An interesting headline in the New York Times caught my eye recently – Do Your Friends Actually Like You?…

You are what you eat, right?

But, what about conflict? Is it possible that we “ingest” conflict much like we ingest food? And, if that’s the case, how much is too much conflict to “eat”?

I ask these questions because I’ve noticed a disturbing trend in my own home: There seems to be a direct correlation between what my children watch on TV and how much conflict we experience in the home.

More specifically, when my children watch shows that portray “sassy”…

I just love Ms. Jonas, the English teacher at ACE Charter High School in Reno. She is an innovator who teaches job related scenarios and skills needed to address them.

Ms. Jonas uses a technique called “Quickwrite.” Each week, she gives the students a word and asks them to write…

Turns out, non-verbal communication (actions, not words) can play a lead role in resolving conflict. Margaret Paul, PhD, who authored an article for The Huffington Post, calls this type of communication-in-confict “loving actions.” Read-on to learn more:…

I happened across the teachings of a Vietnamese monk recently as part of an online search of something entirely unrelated. Fortunately, I had a few moments to light on that page and I found a question.

I think it might be a pearl. Something you are so lucky to find … and it’s so very simple.

Thich Nhat Hanh believes that we should ask our loved ones closest and dearest to us one very straight forward question – and then stop to really…