Susan Mary Malone

Don’t you just love visiting them?  I especially love the native-stone structures with thick walls where within is so cool and quiet.  Even with folks there, the sounds come muted in the semi-dim lighting and I always feel as if I’ve gone back into the middle ages. Around the room, the great steel vats hold […]

Of course there are more than 10, but these are the ones that get me!            Judgement. The psychological truth of mirroring, which just means that the traits you see in others are the ones within you (whether negative or positive), has been understood for decades now.  Everyone you see out […]

It’s funny how the real meanings of myth and mythology got turned on their heads in our culture. What is the first thing you think of when hearing the word myth?  Most likely, you think of something that’s not true.  Urban legend.  Old wives tale. One of my favorites of late has been from the […]

I’ve talked a lot about how doing a kind act, or even witnessing one, boosts your serotonin uptake.  Isn’t that just the coolest thing?  When you do something nice for someone, the chemical effect on your system is just like taking an anti-depressant.  I truly love that!  It makes me happy. Whether you’re performing random […]

Many times our worlds are full of pain.  Our family has had its fair share the last many years.  Illness, hospitals, dying and death.  Sometimes it seems like that’s all there is.  Especially when you’re slogging through the endless muck of it all. And in the midst of it, often remembering that life is a […]

We tend to think that’s not true.  Don’t we?  We often believe that others are so wrapped up in their own lives, what happens with us doesn’t matter. Especially in our culture—which believes and touts our citizens as rugged individualists—we tend to discount the idea that what others do affects us, and vice versa. But, […]

Did you know that more heart attacks and sudden death occur on Mondays than any other day of the week? Yikes!  It’s not just a common mantra about folks hating Monday.  That day actually kills you!  Okay, so the day itself doesn’t.  But our perception of it sure does.  How often do you say after […]

We seek answers.  We strive to understand why something happened, how it happened, what it means now that it has happened, where we go from here.  The human mind just wants to know.  To make sense of this crazy life. One of the most untenable situations to find yourself in is that hazy gray-foggy place […]

Lord knows, I do.  Not so much these days, but for a long stretch of seemingly endless time, I felt like Moses’ people lost in the desert. You know what that’s like.  You’re doing what you’re supposed to, handling your responsibilities, putting one foot in front of the other.  But all things fertile and creative […]

How could those two be connected?  I mean, you’re not lazy, right?  You work hard at what you do.  Give your job your all, take care of your family (sometimes multi-generations worth), apply yourself to school or learning any new task, work out hard, and any number of other endeavors in front of you. Lazy?  […]

There is certainly enough woe in this world to support that idea. We all struggle.  As the Buddha said some time ago, “Life is suffering.”  And man, does evidence abound!  If nothing else, as Author M. Scott Peck summarized, “Life is difficult.” Yeah, buddy. And nobody gets out of here alive. Gulp. Funny thing though, […]

Encoded into our DNA is the desire to be right.  And oh, how we hold onto positions or dreams or relationships or jobs—even when we know they’re wrong.    And the more we bolster up a false truth, the longer before we accept reality. Denial of the real truth always comes from a hidden fear […]