Like most humans, I have a strong bias towards certainty. When my wife became pregnant for the first time, I rushed to a bookstore to purchase three books on how to get ready for a baby. Reading the books calmed me down. I now had confidence that I now knew how to behave in the delivery room, change a diaper, speak in a soothing voice to both baby and mom. Of course, it turned out that I didn’t know much about any of these. In the delivery room, I offered ice chips – a

Regarding the recent government shutdown a couple quotes caught my attention: “We’re very excited. It’s exactly what we wanted, and we got it.” –Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) on the government shutdown, as quoted by the Washington Post, Sept. 29, 2013 “We are winning…It doesn’t really matter to us” how long the shutdown lasts “because what matters is the end result.” –a senior Obama administration official, quoted anonymously in the Wall Street Journal, Oct. 4, 2013 “Bei

I have written and spoken much over the years about “family fusion” – Dr. Murray Bowen’s description of how family members give up “self” in order to maintain “togetherness.” The lack of self-differentiation in one’s growing-up family predictably shows up in one’s marriage, children, friendships and work systems. “No-self” individuals have a difficult time building healthy relationships. “Needing to be liked” Because emotional fusion usually occurs without consciousnes