Essays

I knew the times down to the minute: six hours in the car without traffic, then an 80-minute commuter flight from San Jose to John Wayne Airport in Orange County. Exactly 365 miles, and I counted them down in my head from the click as I closed the heavy front door and left the house, as I cleared se

Karen made a choice to live a life free from alcohol. Today she shares an excerpt with us from her book – You are Here.

By Karen Richards I didn’t start out intending to write a memoir. In fact, for many years―ignoring my own deep yearnings―I quietly avoided writing honestly about myself or my life. I tamped down th…

Our son was suffering from depression and substance abuse and, as much as we wanted to help him, we felt we were chasing smoke in the wind.

A story in praise of mindfully letting go of the weight of the past to welcome in freedom, possibility, and light.

In December 2020, I took a Youth Mental Health First Aid class. This training teaches parents, teachers and other adults how to support young people with mental health challenges, including how to use nonjudgmental listening skills and how to approach a young person and encourage them to seek treatm…

Carl Jung wrote, “The privilege of a lifetime is to become who you truly are.” Over the past year, sheltering in place beneath the shadow of COVID, I reclaimed myself, channeling memories into the vessel of memoir, excavating the remains of the person I was meant to be. (Guest article by Karen Richa…