Tag: Childhood

The other day I met with a new therapist. It’s an interesting thing to meet someone new when you have a lengthy history with another therapist. But the truth is I’m not in the same place as when I first started therapy, and it’s useful to start with someone who only knows me for...

The abrupt sound of women laughing and splashing caused me to look up and to my right. I was 10 years old and hanging out in my friend’s backyard in Merritt Island, Florida. We lived in a suburban neighborhood, filled with green grass and colorful brick houses. Kids roamed free and without ...

No matter how old we are today, we all have a childhood to look back on. This ToT (This or That) childhood challenge focuses on your life between one month and twelve years. 1. Would you rather be born in your decade or ten years later? — Okay, so I hate to say this, but I was born in 197...

Space was something that I and my family always craved. I love my family and I enjoy their presence, but now I always avoid sleeping in the same bed with my father during packed family gatherings. In fact, sharing the bed with someone in a non-romantic way is something that I don’t enjoy ve...

The doctors told Tammy not to ride horses while pregnant because she was at high risk for miscarriage, but she rode anyway. She gave up her maternal rights before my first birthday. She did not want to be a mom to me. Between nine months and three years old, my sense of security and stability ...

When I was younger, my brother and I learned how to read the Quran, in Arabic, from a terrifying old man. Friday nights my dad would shlep us to Dr. Khan’s house. My brother and I weren’t close back then but those nights, we clung to each other for dear life. It’s an understatem...

The doctors told Tammy not to ride horses while pregnant because she was at high risk for miscarriage, but she rode anyway. She gave up her maternal rights before my first birthday. She did not want to be a mom to me. Between nine months and three years old, my sense of security and stability ...

“I didn’t see the light until I was already a man, by then it was nothing to me but blinding.” — Bane, The Dark Knight Rises Art by Tim Sale from Batman Rebirth (2016) A character in a comic book can be as shallow or as deep as the writer wants it to be. B...

Currently on at the Institute of Contemporary Arts in Boston is an exhibition titled To Begin Again: Artists and Childhood. It’s an exhibition about the influence of children and the experience of childhood on artists; how children and childhood has inspired artists and how their wor...

Addressing a complex problem means a new way of thinking about what we’re trying to do, argues Rich Taunt, Pasha Elstak and Vincent Busch Water engulfs our discussions of childhood obesity. The scale of the problem is a ‘rising tide’. The majority of causes lie &lsqu...

When you are 13, and you receive Ann Frank’s diary translated in Kannada as a birthday gift from your Father. Well you see a girl’s face in the book, think it would be a diary that could be girly and start reading it…. Never knew her story, Learnt the story after few days! It&rsqu...

Socrates’ childhood was probably fairly typical for a boy from a family of modest means. He was born to Sophroniscus and Phaenarete in the deme, or borough, of Alopece in the year Apsephion was archon of record, or the fourth year of the seventy-seventh Olympiad (470/469 BC). We do not know ex...

My childhood began in a red brick house in the south of Delhi. Back in my great grandfather’s day there was a lot of empty space that surrounded it for not many families had settled into that part of town yet. Now, the many storied buildings that have come up all around have almost buried thos...

As a child, I had an overactive imagination and an ability to make up all sorts of stories. Growing up in an Australian suburb in the seventies as part of my large immigrant family from England was not exciting enough for me. I made up stories about my life, sometimes just for myself and sometimes I...

There is something remarkable about turning 65. Sometimes it appears before me like a threshold to a new era. Other times it looks more like a portal to a new dimension. Still other times it resembles a black hole leading to who-knows-where. In a few short weeks, I will be crossing that threshold...

My hands dig deep in the blue-and-black striped cotton basket with the smiling snail on it. The boy next to me just fished out a cowboy head, and the girl from next door is trying on the wings of a fairy costume. I’m looking for something very specific. I know it’s in there, but my tiny ...

My hands dig deep in the blue-and-black striped cotton basket with the smiling snail on it. The boy next to me just fished out a cowboy head, and the girl from next door is trying on the wings of a fairy costume. I’m looking for something very specific. I know it’s in there, but my tiny ...

How Your Education, Occupation, Marital Status, Politics, Environment, Childhood, Appearance, Temperament, and the Media Do Your Thinking for You As you may recall, Part 1 of this series dealt with the seven conditioning factors of Age, Habit, Gender, Nationality/National Character, Religion, Rac...

It took me until I was 20 when I took my first Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) self-screening. ACEs are scored based on ten questions on potential traumatic events a person experiences before a child’s 18th birthday (Center for Disease Control (CDC) Vital Signs, 2019). These experiences a...

I came across the default mode network (DMN) while researching psychedelic treatments for depression. The Psychedelic Scientist on YouTube has some good explanations of the DMN and other brain networks. I also found a review and synthesis paper by Vinod Menon (Stanford University...

The other day I met with a new therapist. It’s an interesting thing to meet someone new when you have a lengthy history with another therapist. But the truth is I’m not in the same place as when I first started therapy, and it’s useful to start with someone who only knows me for...

From the earliest days of our lives, we’re infused with a belief that feels almost magical: we are meant for something extraordinary. This conviction, often sparked by the glowing pride in our parents’ eyes over our smallest wins, plants the seeds of destiny within us. My own story, much...

Despite facing criticism and controversy along the way, Jake remained undeterred, using each challenge as an opportunity for growth and self-reflection. Through his candid vlogs, daring stunts, and infectious personality, he forged a deep connection with fans around the world, inspiring a new genera...

This assignment was the first group project at the General Assembly. The teachers assigned us a well-known client, although the brief was conceptual. My client, for the 2-week sprint, was the cherished Victoria and Albert Childhood Museum! The Brief Due to the COVID-19 pandem...

These last few weeks have been so serious. Endless handwashing. Relentless cooking and cleaning. Unceasing worry. Repeat. It’s no wonder I’ve been thinking so much about my childhood, when the hardest thing I ever had to do was choose between Easy Mac and Chef Boyardee. Web...