If you thought I was going to say, “my neighbors’ sex life,” prepare to be disappointed. No, what I’m talking about is those Facebook memes that say, “What could you give a TED talk on right now?” or “What could you talk on for 20 minutes without preparation?” I have…

There are many different occasions when you may find yourself hearing voices. Usually, you only hear the voices of people who are physically in the room or on the phone or chat speaking to you. But sometimes the voices aren’t real, and that can be a cause for worry. One…

As I may have mentioned before, most of our family cats have come from shelters. We’ve gone there looking for specific kinds of cats — calicos or torties, orange tabbies, or frequent talkers — and we’ve found them. …

It’s inevitable. Once you’ve dealt with a mental illness, you’re afraid it will come roaring back, even if you’ve been stable for a long time. You wonder if your medications will stop working. You dread “breakthrough” episodes that will put you back in the same awful space you thought you…

In some circles, either answer will result in heated rebuttals, not to say ostracism. I don’t want to get in the middle of those who adore Star Trek and those who are captivated by Star Wars. I will not even get into the tempest over who was the better captain…

Once I attended a weekend photography workshop. One of my photos received praise as being innovative and interesting, one based on a technique I had seen a friend use. The rest of my photos missed the mark. I was frustrated by my lack of progress. The instructor reassured me, advising…

I know that when pets die, it’s often said that they have crossed “the Rainbow Bridge.” It’s a powerful image, but I don’t know if it’s the right one. The Rainbow Bridge is a euphemism or a metaphor for passing to another astral plane or a spiritual place — death…

There certainly are a lot of mental health campaigns going on. There’s one or more in every month. Most of these are “awareness” days, which is a little bit confusing. …

Librarians are the gatekeepers of civilization. Perhaps I should say “guardians.” “Gatekeepers” implies that librarians decide what to admit and what to keep out. In a way, though, librarians do have to make choices about what books reside in their libraries. They must make decisions based on space, for example…