family

Of Mothers, Daughters and a Nation Crying for Help…

During the past year I have noticed an increasing number of Internet stories/articles reporting the murders and /or more often murder-suicides wherein a parent has killed the spouse and their children.

Men and fathers are usually the assailants for cases involving a murdered spouse.

Children are usually the victims when mothers commit homicide on members of their immediate families.



The act of any parent or adult killing a child is horrendous.

And yet, as the mother of three daughters, I am most taken when a mother kills her daughter (s).

As a psychotherapist I a to ask, “What

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Of Santa, Wish Lists, and The Desire to Not Be Alone…

Author, Lori Bryant Woolridge, in her recent article, Dear Santa, All I Want for Christmas, on the Huffington Post lamented her singleness, along with that of other friends and acquaintances who are not in lack an intimate relationship that during the Holidays Season she stated, “…with its emphasis on family traditions, gift exchanges, and togetherness can be tough for single ladies because it’s one of those times of the year (like New Year’s and Valentines) that when being alone can feel pretty lonely.”

She acknowledged that many women like she, had silently, if not openly stated having “…added a man to their Santa wish list.” She then likened the results of this action mixed with the inaction of “…hoping and waiting…” with her attempt to lose weight, both proving ineffective.

I can certainly imagine how a person without a significant other feels lonely, most especially during the Holiday Season. 

My husband of nearly 30 year

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Of Parents, The Nativity and The Need for Caution….

Lori Bryant Woolridge shares in her recent article, “Dear Santa, All I Want for Christmas,” at the Huffington Post, “…the holiday season…with its emphasis on family traditions, gift exchanges, and togetherness can be tough for single ladies because it’s one of those times of the year (like New Year’s and Valentines) that when being alone can feel pretty lonely.”

No more than with single parents is this need to connect and interact with a level of profound togetherness than with the single mother or single father.

In her blog post, Sad Mommy vs. Daughter Wars, Zondra Hughes asks, asks, “…How can we end these wars…mommy vs. daughter wars…a sad reality that continue to plague our families…”

Where does a woman, or man’s, need for companionship and intimacy slide into abandonment of responsibility as a parent when she or he, the mother, or father, enters into relationship with a person who poses threats of physical and emotional harm to the woman or man’s child?

North Carolina courts, sentenced 43 year-old Elisa Baker,

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Of Knots, Persephone and Releasing the Seeds of Our Pomegranate…

“When peeling the pomegranate the goal is to release the seeds and discard the membrane surrounding the seeds”. How Do I Peel A Pomegranate by Ann Johnson

Human relationships present a challenge much like peeling a pomegranate, or perhaps at time, like unraveling a knot that has formed in the chain of a necklace, a ball of yarn or a length of thread.

In each case involving either the pomegranate and or the necklace, thread or yarn, efforts to release or dispel the knot require that we sit down and untie or as we like to say, unravel the knot.

We must bring our fingers or a sharp object into the center of the tension and pull apart the threads separate them from around each other.

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Twitter Chat: “Of Death, Mortality and The Steam of Compassion…”

Should Huma Abedin forgive her husband, US Representative Anthony Weiner?

For further discussion join me for a Twitter Chat, this Thursday, June 16th, 2011 @ 5pm PDT/6pm MT/7pm CDT/8pm EDT.

http://tweetchat.com/room/anjuelledfloyd

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Last Friday, I heard a young woman say, “She [Huma] should abort the child she is carrying by Weiner.”

Should Huma do this I could not condemn her.

I cannot say what a person should are should not do regarding the betrayal a loved one or friend exacts upon him or her.

And yet our ability to move beyond experiences of hurt and emotional injury inflicted by friends, family and even acquaintances whom we hardly know establishes the foundation upon which we will build our healing.

And yet there is the anger.

Anger indicates a transgression of our boundaries, both physical and particularly emotional.

Beneath anger always lies hurt.

The steam of compassion can only rise from the flames of anger.

And what of forgiveness?

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What guides your steps in dealing with betrayal, infidelity, and the injurious actions of others, most particularly of family and friends–those whom you love?

What can you live with regarding your actions towards those who have hurt you?

How do you want to die?

What must you do to achieve your desires for transitioning from this life into what lies beyond?

For further discussion join me for a Twitter Chat, this Thursday, June 16th, 2011 @ 5pm PDT/6pm MT/7pm CDT/8pm EDT.

http://tweetchat.com/room/anjuelledfloyd

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Of Death, Mortality and The Steam of Compassion…

Should Huma Abedin forgive her husband, US Representative Anthony Weiner?

Last Friday, I heard a young woman state that Huma should abort the child she is carrying Weiner.

Should Huma do this I could not condemn her.

I cannot say what a person should are should not do regarding the betrayal a loved one or friend exacts upon him or her.

And yet our ability to move beyond experiences of hurt and emotional injury inflicted by friends, family and even acquaintances whom we hardly know establishes the foundation upon which we will build our healing.

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Excerpt from “Seasons in Purdah–A Novel”

What happens when your best friends are two men and you marry one of them?

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This is the case for 35-year-old Sahel Ohin.

As a child Sahel, spent the afternoons of spring and summer making mud cakes. Titus brought the water, Carl the dirt from his mother’s flower garden. All three lived on the same street in Oakland, California. After mixing the dirt and water Sahel poured the mud into tin pie pans her mother had discarded. Titus and Carl would then place the pans filled with mud in the sun to dry.

This was their work.

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