Showing posts with label psychology. Show all posts
Showing posts with label psychology. Show all posts

Friday, March 4, 2011

Renewal



As I look at my online budgeting program, it not-so-gently informs me that February was a month of indulgence. As I look back on the month on my blog at pork belly, bread salad and chocolate cake, I am reminded that food-wise, indulgence was indeed the theme of last month. As the plum trees burst into gorgeous pink and white blossoms, I am hopeful that March will bring a chance for slimming down, focusing on the essentials, and finding new growth.

Monday, November 22, 2010

The Gratitude Journal


Have you ever kept a gratitude journal? A good friend of mine, while suffering from depression, received counsel from a therapist to begin regularly keeping a gratitude journal. Every day, she was advised to turn to a blank page in a designated notebook, and write down at least 10 different items she was grateful for, without repetition.

Gratitude is indeed a natural antidote to depression. I have a vibrant green gratitude journal that energizes me every time I look at it. I haven’t written in this journal regularly for some time, for which I blame my husband for making my life too wonderful.

But this week, to honor Thanksgiving, I plan to write down as many things as I can each day that I have to be thankful for. My goal is to reach 100 items by Thanksgiving Day. I hope that this year's holiday will be my most grateful one to date!

Wednesday, June 2, 2010

Recurring Dreams

Have you ever had a dream over and over again? According to one web site:"Recurring dreams are quite common and are often triggered by a certain life situation or a problem that keeps coming back again and again. Such dreams may be highlighting a personal weakness, fear, or your inability to cope with something in your life - past or present... It may point to a conflict, situation or matter in your waking life that remains unresolved or unsettled. Some urgent underlying message in your unconscious is demanding to be understood."

When I was a child, I had two recurring dreams. In one, I would run so fast and the wind was so strong that it would lift me up in the air - I could fly! In the other (perhaps stemming from watching the movie "Splash" too many times), I was underwater and discovered that I could still breathe. Perhaps these dreams represented the feeling of freedom that comes with childhood.

For the past several years, I have had a recurring dream that I go into a public restroom to discover that each stall is filthy, too dirty to be used. This may be partially due to some of my experiences in China, and partly due to a physical connection to a full bladder towards the end of my slumber that cannot be emptied. I’m not sure if there is a deeper meaning - perhaps a fear of contamination? Recently, I have begun dreaming that I am back in Hong Kong, where I lived for a year and a half. I see this as a longing to travel and have adventures, as well as to reconnect with the place and people I grew to love.

Do you have recurring dreams? If so, what do you think they mean?