Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler ~Albert Einstein I believe most of us want, no, crave, a simpler life.  Henry Thoreau, seeking to find out what was essential about life, retreated to a small cabin at Walden Pond and wrote, Our life is fritted away be detail. An honest man has hardly need to count more than his ten fingers, or in extreme cases he … read more →

Burnout is nature’s way of telling you, you’ve been going through the motions your soul has departed; you’re a zombie, a member of the walking dead, a sleepwalker. False optimism is like administrating stimulants to an exhausted nervous system. – Sam Keen Sitting across from Tom, a lawyer for the past 15 years, I was struck by his ashen face.  Before he even said a word, before I asked him … read more →

There is a distinctive pallor that comes over our world at this time of the year; grey parking lots seem a lot harsher, people wandering into Starbucks this morning a tad glummer. But nothing seems tougher to deal with than a dearth of sunshine.  It feels as though Mother Nature has pulled down the shades and they ain’t coming back up anytime soon. As I scrape the shellacking of quarter-inch … read more →

Others imply that they know what it is like to be depressed because they have gone through a divorce, lost a job, or broken up with someone. But these experiences carry with them feelings. Depression, instead, is flat, hollow, and unendurable. It is also tiresome. People cannot abide being around you when you are depressed. They might think that they ought to, and they might even try, but you know … read more →

There is so much to be grateful for this time of year:  friends, family and all the goodness of the holy season.  At this time of the year though, my thoughts also turn to those struggling with depression.  When I pray for them, I think of the Old Testament reading from Isaiah: The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of deep … read more →

Depression makes a person’s world very small and narrow.  During a depressive episode, he enters a long tunnel of despair; a dark passageway encasing him in its concrete walls.  If he can see an exit, it is in the far distance, a sliver signifying a long and arduous journey ahead. The tunnel constricts his vitality, his link to the world which isn’t all doom and gloom; where miracles and beauty and goodness … read more →

Lawyers are control freaks.  Okay, maybe they have to be. There’s is so much going on that they actually do have to control things to be good at their jobs.  But it creates a grind of perpetual stress; every day, all-out stress seizures to control of events and people that are all too often uncontrollable leaving them depleted by the constant firing of their bodies’ fight-or-flight reaction. We all learned … read more →

The opposite of depression is not happiness, but vitality – the ability to experience a full range of emotions, including happiness, excitement, sadness, and grief.  Depression is not an emotion itself; it’s the loss of feelings, a big heavy blanket that insulates you from the world yet hurts at the same time.  It’s not sadness or grief, it’s an illness. –Richard O’Connor, Ph.D. I can spot sadness on lawyer’s face. … read more →

Full Catastrophe Living Based on Dr. Jon Kabat-Zinn’s renowned mindfulness-based stress reduction program, this book shows you how to use natural, medically proven methods to soothe and heal your body, mind, and spirit. The title?  Oh, that’s from the classic book Zorba the Greek.  Zorba is a Greek full of a salty zest for life.  At one point, his intellectual benefactor asked him, “Zorba, are you married?”  Zorba snorts, “Married? … read more →

Getting things done at work is a top priority for any lawyer.  This is all the more so when a lawyer is suffering from clinical depression because it becomes harder and harder to be productive: stacks of paperwork become bigger stacks of paperwork, deadlines begin to feel like death sentences when they’re not completed and time is running out, and the e-mail box is overflowing like a sink onto a … read more →