“Here’s a secret: I have an elevator in my body. Yup. And it takes me wherever I want to go.”
“To me, an intrusive thought is any thought that interrupts what you want to be doing with reasons why you shouldn’t be doing it, reasons that make you feel bad about yourself. Throughout my life, I’ve dealt with a lot of intrusive thoughts, but because of this, I’ve been able to come up with some techniques to reframe them, diffuse their intensity, understand them in new ways, and even turn them into insights. So though I don’t expect what worked for me will work for everyone, I thought I’d share, just in case it’s useful.”
A piece about intrusive thoughts and some ideas for how to reframe them, diffuse their intensity, understand them in new ways, and even turn them into insights.
(Suitable for tweens, teens and adults.)
“Once there was a little girl who loved to count.
’Mama,’ she said one morning. ‘I’m going to count to infinity!’
’But darling,’ her mother replied. ‘There’s no time to count to infinity!’
But the little girl was precocious and wanted to find out for herself.”
The story of a little girl determined to count to infinity.
(Suitable for all ages.)
“To me, one of the hardest things about being a person is figuring out how to get along with other people. It seems like there’s always some problem, some conflict, some battle. It makes sense, though—we’re all walking around at the very same time with our private thoughts and our private wants and needs, our private circumstances and private memories of past circumstances.”
A conversation about shifting one’s perspective so that when other people behave in ways that are toxic to us, we don’t have to internalize the toxicity and have our days be ruined. Instead we can see the situation differently, and through doing so, find empathy for ourselves and maybe even for those most difficult people in our lives.
(Suitable for tweens, teens and adults.)
“Do you ever notice how you feel when someone gives you a zing?
A zing is what I call the feeling I get when someone does something that upsets me. Maybe it’s a harsh tone, maybe someone hasn’t responded to me the way I wished they would have. Or maybe someone’s being plain old-fashioned mean or rude for reasons I can’t understand.”
A conversation about why it’s so easy to get upset by other people, and how we can create more peace in our minds and in our lives by understanding the situation a bit differently.
(Suitable for tweens, teens and adults.)
“One early winter morning, Emily’s mother was driving her to school, when Emily noticed the moon still up in the sky.
’Look at the moon, Mommy!’
’Wow, look at that. What a beautiful moon, honey.’
’I bet it must be cold up there.’
’Oh, I’m sure it is!’
’You think the moon ever gets cold, Mommy?’
’No, dear. The moon doesn’t get cold.’
’How do you know?’
’I just know, darling.’
’But did you ever ask the moon if she gets cold?’
’Yes, I did.’
’Did you really, Mommy?’”
The story of a little girl who wanted to know if the moon was cold, and wouldn’t give up until she found out, even when all the grown-ups insisted her question was ridiculous.
(Suitable for all ages.)
“Once there was a girl who wanted to be a hairdresser. All growing up she would style her hair, her friends’ hair and even her grandmother’s hair.
She had a gift for making people sparkle.
She loved how they looked at themselves in the mirror when she was through, as if their best selves had emerged and were waving hello.”
When a girl becomes flooded by intrusive thoughts, a friend teaches her how to find an anchor.
(Suitable for tweens, teens and adults.)
“Hello. I’m a flower. A beautiful, one-of-a-kind flower. If you saw me, you would have to stop and look. Even if you were running late, you would have to just look for at least a second. You might even want to snap a photo.”
The Anxious Little Seed is a story about one little seed in the garden who refuses to be happy, because she's too busy wanting to be a flower.
(Suitable for all ages.)
A poem about a boy who wants to be better than everyone else, until he realizes he’s made a mistake.
(Suitable for all ages.)
“I once knew a little boy who had a lot of fears. During the day, he wasn’t scared of much—he’d run around feeling pretty great—but once the sun set, his fears would wake up.”
Fact-Checking Your Fears is a conversation about understanding where our fears come from, and how to use our brains to decide if something is dangerous or not.
(Suitable for all ages.)
A very short poem based on true events. For some odd reason, when I’m upset with my son, I often rhyme inadvertently.
(Suitable for all ages.)
Tip Tapping is a guided meditation for kids, that requires a bit of assistance from a grown-up.
It's a story I tell my son when he can’t sleep at night, when he’s scared or anxious or just has an abundance of maniacal energy.
There’s a lot of room for improvisation, but I’ve shared the framework along with a recording of the story, in case you’d like to try it out.
Basically, a grown-up tip-taps their fingers as if they’re little legs, on all the parts of the child’s body that the story mentions.
It can be silly and a lot of fun and it also helps to call my son’s attention back from all his video games and friends and other worldly stuff, and back into his body where he can feel like he’s home, safe and comfortable.
(Suitable for ages 2-10.)
“When my child is suffering from OCD behavior, one way I can help him is by helping myself first. By asking myself: Am I catastrophizing here? Am I afraid that my child’s behavior is not normal? That I have to fix it immediately? Am I in panic mode about his behavior and worrying about his future?”
Some ideas for how parents can support themselves while their child is experiencing OCD Behavior.
(Suitable for adults.)
“I remember when I was 11, wanting to write a memoir. I had a stepmother at the time who laughed when I told her my plan. “Don’t you need to be somebody before you write one of those?”
Two very short stories—one for adults and one for kids—about the importance of sharing the most authentic version of who we are, without shame, and without needing an invitation to do so.
(Suitable for tweens, teens and adults.)
“Most of the time when you hear a story about a cocoon, there’s a caterpillar inside. But not this story. This story is about a cocoon that had a butterfly inside. A butterfly who was afraid to fly.”
A terrified butterfly is forced out of her cocoon and into the world where she meets an unexpected friend who encourages her to fly.
(Suitable for all ages.)
“Once there was a girl who was born with glue in her brain.
At first she didn’t know about the glue. She only knew that something seemed wrong about her brain, because so many of her thoughts seemed to get stuck to it.
No matter where she happened to be, she would notice herself thinking these same thoughts, again and again. Even if she tried not to think these thoughts, there they were . . .”
The Girl Who Was Born with Glue in Her Brain is about a girl with a handful of thoughts that keep her from being able to enjoy life as much as she would like to, and what she eventually decides to do about it.
(Suitable for teens and adults.)
Click here to purchase the illustrated book version of this story.
“Once there was a man who loved his flower garden.
Only red flowers grew in his garden, and he was proud of every one. ‘The finest flowers are red,’ he’d say. ‘And flowers of any other color simply don’t belong here.’”
When a man notices flowers of unfamiliar colors blossoming in his town, he worries they’ll ruin his garden and he tries to ban them.
Red Flowers is a story about how much more beautiful the world is when a person is willing to open up their perspective and let the perspectives of others become part of their own.
(Suitable for all ages.)
“I think what every upset is missing, is a bridge of understanding.
There are many people who are builders of these bridges of understanding, but many of them are not building these bridges because the work is so tedious.”
(Suitable for tweens, teens and adults)
“Once, there was a little girl who wanted to have tea with her mommy. But her mommy was very busy. ‘As soon as I’m done with my grown-up work, I would love to have tea with you!’”
The Tea Party is a story about the creative ideas people come up with to connect with each other when they imagine they’re not enough just the way they already are.
(Suitable for all ages.)
“I remember being little and carrying the weight of all the stories I was secretly collecting about my own experiences. I wanted so badly to share these experiences with someone who might have had the time to understand and appreciate what I was going through. But I couldn’t find the right person.”