grief – The Self-Help Whisperer®

Dad – And then, there were the feathers…

24 Feb 202224 Feb 2022

I’ve struggled with how to write today’s post. It’s been one year today since Dad travelled to that great unknown… And, being honest, this grieving process has been very different…

From My Bookshelf…

Bio-Moment – Not Just Me. Right?

20 Feb 2022

I’m not okay. Are you okay? I mean, yeah, sure, masked faces are a familiar sight, as is hand sanitizer, arrows on the floor, and statistics about how many have…

From My Bookshelf

Enough Already – Food For Thought

14 Feb 2022

I knew I would love Enough Already by Valerie Bertinelli because ... A. I adore Bertinelli and have since her days on One Day at a Time and B. I…

From My Bookshelf

Remember this one?* – Soul Without Shame

21 Dec 202120 Dec 2021

If you’re looking for a quick-fix for your shame, Soul Without Shame by Byron Brown is NOT it. Not that it’s a difficult read – it isn’t – but that it’s heavy…

Self-Help Whispering

Bio Moment – The Wounding of the Human Heart

21 Oct 202121 Oct 2021

It's a rainy Autumn day, the air cool, and I am safely at home in my cozy library. I've just finished a smoothie, although yes, hot tea sipped from a…

Self-Help Whispering

Grieving is Like a Lava Lamp – Field Notes and Gratitude

9 Jul 2021

Earlier this week, I received a completely-unexpected gift in the mail. Inside the package was a little wooden coin engraved with "Dad" on one side and a lantern on the…

From My Bookshelf

PODCAST – A Lifetime of Diets & Exercise – The Sheryl Plan

6 Jul 20216 Jul 2021

https://anchor.fm/sheryl-nelsen-hutton/episodes/The-Sheryl-Plan---Diet--Exercise-Journey-e141htb

From My Bookshelf

The Light Between Us – Paper Thin

21 Jun 202115 Sep 2021

“Picture a hand with five fingers. Each finger is distinct, but each finger also connects to the same source—the hand itself. The fingers are separate, but connected. We as humans…

From My Bookshelf

Podcast – Turning On The Light

18 Jun 2021

Nobody said this would be easy... and by that I mean... life... and podcasts. Finding my footing on our well-worn path. Hope you'll come along! https://open.spotify.com/episode/2AhRlNZDeqNLYvrne4I7F7?si=7903b3788ea6458e

From My Bookshelf

Podcast – Seeing the Light After Depression

8 Jun 202118 Jun 2021

https://open.spotify.com/episode/1t4YrQpV3fIRJjLiEeXP87?si=f8522621fd8a47df

Self-Help Whispering

Bio Moment – Uphill Battle

28 May 202128 May 2021

TW: Depression I may be projecting (probably am) but I can only assume that you - the collective "you" - are tired of hearing about my (and other's) depression. I…

Self-Help Whispering

Bio Moment – Hi. Dad’s Celebration of Life is today

15 May 202115 May 2021

I could have chosen any little critter to illustrate my greeting. Why did I choose a spider? I guess I was thinking of Charlotte's Web by E.B. White. Wise and…

From My Bookshelf

Remember this one?* – On Grief and Grieving

12 May 2021

The reality is that you will grieve forever. You will not ‘get over’ the loss of a loved one; you will learn to live with it. You will heal and…

Self-Help Whispering

Yeah, I’ve been MIA – TW: Depression

26 Apr 202126 Apr 2021

What does one say when one is determined not to drag their friends and readers into the emotional muck called "depression during the pandemic"? Nothing. One says nothing. I mean,…

Self-Help Whispering

A Grief Dream – Thank you, Dad!

21 Apr 202121 Apr 2021

One of my first interviews for this blog was with a fascinating young guy named Josh. Dr. Joshua Black, if you please! I called him, "The Grief Dream Whisperer" because…

From My Bookshelf

The Year of Magical Thinking – Beauty & The Book

10 Apr 202110 Apr 2021

“A single person is missing for you, and the whole world is empty.” - Joan Didion The Year of Magical Thinking is a STUNNING and significant work by prolific writer…

Self-Help Whispering

Bio Moment – The Bandaid

31 Mar 20211 Apr 2021

Last night, as we got into bed, I took a heavy quilt off my side of the bed and tossed it aside. It had been my second attempt at using…

Self-Help Whispering

Grief 101: Recover from Grief Website

23 Mar 202123 Mar 2021

I miss my dad. I find myself trying not to think about him because whenever I do, I'm sobbing. I know how very lucky and blessed I was to have…

Self-Help Whispering

Easy like Sunday – Ships (that pass in the night)

7 Mar 202117 Mar 2021

My husband hates Barry Manilow. Me? I loved the song Copacabana. <<< I was such a disco queen! And his Christmas album. Oh, I kinda liked Mandy. Alright, leave me…

From My Bookshelf

Remember this one?* – Forgive & Forget

6 Mar 2021

“If we wait to forgive people until they say they are sorry we make ourselves hostages to the very person who wronged us to begin with…” – Lewis B. Smedes Forgive…

Self-Help Whispering

A heart, a dream and a photo

2 Mar 2021

“I believe in everything until it's disproved. So I believe in fairies, the myths, dragons. It all exists, even if it's in your mind. Who's to say that dreams and…

Self-Help Whispering

The Gift – I knew who I was in his presence

27 Feb 2021

Death in the age of Covid - especially when you live in another country, even if it is a friendly, once-open-border - adds a few surprising obstacles. Then there's the…

Self-Help Whispering

Until We Meet Again, Dad

26 Feb 202128 Mar 2021

Those of you who have been here since the beginning know that my dad fell a little over three years ago. Until that time, I thought he'd live forever. At…

Self-Help Whispering

The Gratitude Zone II – The “People Posts”

28 Jan 202130 Jan 2021

On July 13, 2019, I mentioned (not for the first time) my first blog, The Gratitude Zone. At that time, I wasn't aware that I'd saved what I called my…

From My Bookshelf

Wintering – Life’s grimalkin, no more!

21 Dec 202021 Dec 2020

"Watching winter and really listening to its messages, we learn that effect is often disproportionate to cause; that tiny mistakes can lead to huge disasters; that life is often bloody…

Interviews

Teaser for Upcoming Interview – Kathryn: Light & Dark (Shadows, that is!)

21 Nov 202023 Nov 2020

We first met Kathryn Leigh Scott here in my post about her beautiful book Now With You Now Without . As I mentioned in that post, I had more questions and…

From My Bookshelf

Now With You Now Without – The Question

9 Nov 202010 Nov 2020

My friend Roger told me about this book. Can I just stop for a moment and gush on serendipity? If it weren't for my dearest, long-time friend Betsy, who saved…

From My Bookshelf

Remember this one?* – Resilience

5 Nov 2020

In her final words, she said that “in the simple act of living with hope, and in the daily effort to have a positive impact in the world, the days…

Photography…

Picture of the Day – A Haiku- “Hello darkness, my old friend”

1 Nov 20201 Nov 2020

Alone with his thoughts Deep inside his hoodie world The darkness lives there.

Self-Help Whispering

Bio Moment – A long story & A bonus musing at the end

29 Oct 20207 Dec 2020

Facebook is so kind to bring up memories from past years. Sometimes funny, sometimes poignant, always a peek into what was going on in my head that same day last…

Self-Help Whispering

Once Upon a Tess -Five Years Ago

21 Aug 202023 Feb 2021

Once upon a time there was the most perfect cat in the whole wide world. As all sentient beings live, so must they die. It is The Way. The Rainbow…

Self-Help Whispering

Stairway- A Haiku

12 Aug 202012 Aug 2020

Everyone I love Is somewhere along the way Bright light on both sides.

From My Bookshelf

Healing the Child Within – For Crying Out Loud!

3 Aug 20203 Aug 2020

Don't be fooled by me. Don't be fooled by the face I wear for I wear a mask, a thousand masks, masks that I'm afraid to take off, and none…

From My Bookshelf

It Still Hurts – A light read for a heavy problem

23 Jul 202023 Jul 2020

This blog space is filled with life experiences, stories, and books that deal with grief. It is not a new subject for me or anyone else. It's our human experience.…

Self-Help Whispering

Haiku – “Grief”

23 Mar 2020

Condensation, or weeping woman, misty-eyed Thought I saw you there.

From My Bookshelf

Remember this one? – How to Live Between Office Visits

8 Feb 20208 Feb 2020

Faith is the health's requisite - John Updike, from "Ode to Healing" It was an act of faith that led me to buy this book... because... as a person with…

Self-Help Whispering

Easy like Sunday – Nana & Bappa’s Legacy

2 Feb 202012 Aug 2020

My friends and readers, Thanks so much for being patient with me during the transition from laze-about blogger to full-time employee with a blog side-hustle. Sixty may be the new…

From My Bookshelf

Lessons in Loss and Living – What would you do if you didn’t know better?

7 Dec 20197 Dec 2019

Oh yes, our old friend grief... again. *sigh* I typed "grief" into the search field of my blog and got this list. You can look if you want. I'll wait.…

Photography

Picture of the Day -“Yesterday”

1 Dec 20191 Dec 2019

Today, ice is thick on the roads and tree branches. Power-cutting, dangerous, bone-chilling. But yesterday, it looked like this. A day can make a stunning difference. My former brother-in-law died…

Self-Help Whispering

Dear Friends, Readers and fair Countrypeeps (far and wide)

6 Aug 20196 Aug 2019

I owe you both an apology and an explanation. Apology: I'm sorry you've been seeing me at my worst more often than you've seen me at my best. I never…

Self-Help Whispering

Remember this one? – Use the Good Dishes

4 Jul 2019

My friend Debbie died today. We were very close when we were younger, in our twenties. She introduced me to my first husband. She was an honorary “Auntie” to my…

From My Bookshelf

Fiction as Self-Help – Turtles All The Way Down – Never has there been a more appropriate book for the Fiction as Self-Help Category!

20 Jun 201915 Sep 2021

I almost don't know where to begin. Turtles All The Way Down is by the same guy (John Green) who wrote The Fault in our Stars, which I didn't read…

If you have a medical or mental health emergency, call your doctor or 911.

Nothing contained in this blog (The Self-Help Whisperer®) is intended to establish or replace a physician-patient relationship or services.

If you are IN CRISIS and NEED TO TALK but don’t know who to call…

In USA: Mental Health America In Crisis? Call 1-800-273-TALK

Or elsewhere in the world – By Country, as compiled by Wikipedia

Suicide hotline numbers

Someone dies from suicide every 40 seconds

United States 1 800 273 8255

Canada 1 800 456 4566