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Encouraging Compassion, The Fifty-Second Week of the Second Year in the New Abnormal

Encouraging Compassion, The Fifty-Second Week of the Second Year in the New Abnormal
Dec 31, 2023 by Janet Zinn
We are at the end of 2023 and yet life goes on with all its difficulties, complications, wonders, and joy.  As we change the calendar year perhaps there is a better way to move forward.  We traditionally make resolutions.  Maybe we call them something else, but so many of us want to better our lives and a new year can feel like a blank slate.  

Those Who Inspire Us, The Forty-Second Week in the Second Year of the New Abnormal

Those Who Inspire Us, The Forty-Second Week in the Second Year of the New Abnormal
Oct 22, 2023 by Janet Zinn

’ve been watching Dear… on Apple TV.  I found it by accident.  While looking for another program a small square with Selena Gomez’s image caught my eye.  I clicked on her framed face and came upon Dear…  I watched the 30-minute segment and was immediately hooked. The series features individuals in the public eye, some athletes, actors, writers, or activists, as they engage with letters of those who have been inspired by them The featured famous person’s  influence has helped to change the letter writers’ lives.  

Saying Nothing, The Thirty-Ninth Week in the Second Year of the New Abnormal

Saying Nothing, The Thirty-Ninth Week in the Second Year of the New Abnormal
Oct 01, 2023 by Janet Zinn

“If you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all.”  That was a common idiom of our mother’s lexicon.   She lived true to that statement.  Even when she attempted to comment on something she disapproved of, she did her best to soften it.  As a teen, I often was asked the question, “Janet, do you think that’s the most complementary outfit?“  Or it could have been make-up, pants, hair style or any other appearance-related observation.  As a sensitive teen I was crushed no matter how much she tried to say it diplomatically.   

Hurt by Half, The Thirty-Sixth Week of the Second Year in the New Abnormal

Hurt by Half, The Thirty-Sixth Week of the Second Year in the New Abnormal
Sep 09, 2023 by Janet Zinn

I was ten years old.  The person who I had considered my best friend was in the Stafford School auditorium with her class, and I was with my class for a school-wide assembly.  Assemblies felt important.  Usually the principal spoke.  He was a tall, somber man who communicated in hushed tones lending an atmosphere of solemnity to childhood gatherings.  

Bickering, The Twenty-Seventh Week of the Second Year in the New Abnormal

Bickering, The Twenty-Seventh Week of the Second Year in the New Abnormal
Jul 08, 2023 by Janet Zinn

My son told me last weekend that he hoped he won’t have disagreements in his relationships like I have with my husband when he’s older.  It was interesting to hear, and as far as I understand he believes that with the amount of therapy, mindfulness practice, as well as the fact that I am a psychotherapist, I should be further along in my personal development, especially when it comes to my marriage.  There was a time I would have agreed.  I would have seen my defensiveness when my feelings are hurt, and that my feelings get hurt at all, as a fault in my character.  

Fathers Day, The Twenty-Fourth Week of the Second Year in the New Abnormal

Fathers Day, The Twenty-Fourth Week of the Second Year in the New Abnormal
Jun 18, 2023 by Janet Zinn

Happy Father’s Day.  When I say that it conjures up so much for me and for so many others, I expect you included.  Many of us have had varied relationships with our fathers nothing like Father Knows Best, The Courtship of Eddie’s Father, Blackish, or even Home Improvement.  If only we could tune in for 30 minutes a week and enjoy the comical moments that focus on the highlights of the best parts of them, with a little silly thrown in.  

On Repeat, Week Sixteen in the New Abnormal

On Repeat, Week Sixteen in the New Abnormal
Apr 17, 2022 by Janet Zinn
Life isn’t linear.  I had always hoped I’d solve what I considered to be my problems, and then live a quality life.  The truth is that we revisit issues time and time again.  Even when we think we’ve beat it, it will show up unexpectedly.  Perhaps it’s why the movie Groundhog’s Day resonates for so many of us.  

A Six-Year Old State of Mind

A Six-Year Old State of Mind
Sep 04, 2015 by Janet Zinn
When I entered the first grade at Stafford Elementary there were too many students for the two classrooms. I was assigned to an extra class, which was temporarily located in the southeast corner of the all-purpose auditorium, the exact location where they display the book sale in the Spring. The teacher, a mean spirited woman, whose name escapes me, derived her sense of power by placing me in the corner.



I would laugh uncontrollably with Robin Reed, a beautiful, tall girl with large green eyes. We would just look at each other and start laughing. However, my laugh, for reasons unknown to me would set off the teacher. And, I alone would have to sit in the corner, having been shamed...