self-awareness – The Self-Help Whisperer®

From My Bookshelf

You Were Not Born to Suffer – It’s about time!

9 Jun 20219 Jun 2021

As many of you know, up until the last few weeks, I was mired in a bout of depression triggered by the death of my beloved dad - AND -…

Self-Help Whispering

Finding Joe – The Hero’s Journey & Bliss

“The journey of the hero is about the courage to seek the depths; the image of creative rebirth; the eternal cycle of change within us; the uncanny discovery that the seeker is the mystery…

From My Bookshelf

Remember this one?* – Who Moved My Cheese?

Every day, I would drive home from work thinking about what I would write here. Sometimes, I’d get things sorted before I walked in the door. Sometimes, it would come…

From My Bookshelf

Your Money or Your Life – You get what you deserve?

18 May 202118 May 2021

Don’t ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive, and go do it. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive. - Howard Thurman…

From My Bookshelf

Remember this one?* – The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck

Self-improvement and success often occur together. But that doesn’t necessarily mean they’re the same thing. – Mark Manson He was a loser. […] He never tried to be anything other…

From My Bookshelf

Remember this one?* – How to Argue and Win Every Time

And *this guy* knows a thing or two! “He has never lost a criminal case either as a prosecutor or a defense attorney. He has not lost a civil case…

Self-Help Whispering

Getting to the root – Self-Sabotage

15 Mar 202115 Mar 2021

"I’m a self-saboteur who walked away from not one but two heartfelt-others-serving jobs. I crashed emotionally after each one. I now realize that other things were going on and I…

From My Bookshelf

Remember this one?*- Rich Dad, Poor Dad

I find so many people struggling, often working harder, simply because they cling to old ideas. They want things to be the way they were; they resist change. I know…

Self-Help Whispering

Bio Moment – Who do you think you’re fooling?

4 Feb 20214 Feb 2021

Last night, in that space between awake and asleep, I thought of this phrase... Who do you think you're fooling? And I heard a voice... You're not special. You never…

Self-Help Whispering

The Mane Event – But also, NOT (about hair, that is!)

4 Jan 20214 Jan 2021

Allow me to introduce you to my Hair Valet, shown in my featured photo. I call it my "Hair Valet" because it allows me to do my hair without so-much-as…

Self-Help Whispering

Bio Moment – Self Portrait, if I were a butterfly

22 Dec 202022 Dec 2020

Today I sat down to draw a butterfly. But let me begin at the beginning. Beginning. Ah yes, butterflies and new beginnings. So perfect. Yes? I've always loved butterflies. I…

From My Bookshelf

Remember this one?* – 10% Happier

19 Dec 202029 Dec 2020

"But it was in this moment, lying in bed late at night, that I first realized that the voice in my head—the running commentary that had dominated my field of…

From My Bookshelf

Remember this one?* – Ordinarily Well

Ordinarily Well by Peter D. Kramer is about antidepressants. More to the point, it is about if they work. Kramer is not merely a bystander… he is a psychiatrist and scholar.…

Interview – Kathryn Leigh Scott: Supernatural Beauty

28 Nov 202028 Nov 2020

We first met Kathryn Leigh Scott in my post about her beautiful book HERE and then later, in my shameless teaser about this interview HERE. With everything we learned in…

From My Bookshelf

Remember this one?* – The Happiness Project

It was a "Heather's Pick". Who the heck IS this Heather at my local bookseller? I picture her small and stooped over, with sexy librarian glasses and orthopedic shoes. She…

From My Bookshelf

Remember this one?* – The Gentle Art of Verbal Self-Defense

14 Nov 202014 Nov 2020

Dont get me wrong. The Gentle Art of Verbal Self-Defense by Suzette Haden Elgin is excellent. It’s just that… well… come with me and we’ll get where I’m going. I’ve read (what…

From My Bookshelf

Remember this one?* – Undoing Depression

I love the subtitle of Richard O’Connor’s Undoing Depression: “What Therapy Doesn’t Teach You and Medication Can’t Give You”… because… it’s always felt to me that there was something… some component… that…

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

Leaning In – Profile Photo Edition

31 Oct 202031 Oct 2020

Something happened this morning... It is "nothing about me" and "everything about me" ... and "everything about you," too. Let's see what you think! Good Ol' Facebook asked that you…

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…

From My Bookshelf

Hillbilly Elegy – The American Dream

26 Oct 202026 Oct 2020

Today's offering is not a self-help book but in typical Sheryl-fashion, I found threads that connect. Hillbilly Elegy by JD Vance is a deeply authentic, heartbreaking book... even though our…

From My Bookshelf

Dougall Fraser – Color YOUR World

9 Oct 202029 Dec 2020

My mom suggested I meet Dougall Fraser through his memoir titled, "But You Knew That Already". I added his book Your Life in Color on my own. Let me just…

From My Bookshelf

Remember this one?* – The Hero Within

8 Oct 20208 Oct 2020

No matter how much people want to feel loved, appreciated, and a part of things, they will be lonely until they make a commitment to themselves, a commitment that is…

From My Bookshelf

Remember this one?* – This is Me

"Honeybees are meaningful to me because technically they’re not supposed to be able to fly. We know they do, but in the 1930s, French scientists ‘proved’ they couldn’t. Their reasoning…

Bio Moment – “Another path, another journey”

Did I tell you that I prayed, meditated and even pulled cards in my quest to find the answer to the question: Is it the right time to go back…

Picture(s) of the Day – “A Hidden Gem” (And an update!)

29 Sep 20209 Oct 2020

For those of you following along with my recent life events, you will notice that I am here in the middle of a work day sharing photos I snapped only…

From My Bookshelf

Remember this one?* – Daring Greatly

28 Sep 202027 Sep 2020

I have read, seen and heard Brené Brown so many times that I get confused as to whether I’m talking about her Daring Greatly book (or one of her many others), her TEDx talks, her FB page or her interviews…

From My Bookshelf

Remember this one?* – Emotional Intelligence

My IQ is modest. My common-sense is pretty-much nil. But my emotional intelligence? Well, let’s just say it works better than the other two combined. Emotional Intelligence by Daniel Goleman is the kind…

From My Bookshelf

Remember this one? – I’m OK – You’re OK

“Three things make people want to change. One is that they hurt sufficiently. They have beat their heads against the same wall so long that they decide they have had…

Self-Help Whispering

How are we doing?

So, I’ve lost about ten pounds since we stopped eating meat. Only 100+ more to go. 🙄 I kinda digress, yes here, at the very beginning of the post. 🤣…

From My Bookshelf

Remember this one?* – The Secret of the Shadow

“Embracing our dark side gives us a new found freedom to be with the darkness in others. For when I can love all of me, I will love all of…

From My Bookshelf

Creating the Relationship of Your Dreams – The “Anger Dragon” falls in love

The biggest coward of a man is to awaken the love of a woman without the intention of loving her. - Bob Marley It dawned on me that had I…

Self-Help Whispering

How’m I doing with 2020: Year of Clarity?

20 Aug 202020 Aug 2020

Every year I pick a word to focus on and this year the word is Clarity. When I first talked about the word, I was thinking of... Uh... Myself. Yeah,…

Picture of the Day & A Movie – “Earthing”

14 Aug 202028 Oct 2020

Look at this beautiful green grass! I have watched a wonderful movie on YouTube that I want to share with you. This photo reminded me of it!It's an hour and…

From My Bookshelf

Remember this one?* – Begin with Yes

13 Aug 202013 Aug 2020

Begin with Yes by Paul S. Boynton is easy reading and the message itself is simple: Begin with Yes. Then how come it took me 64 pages to say, “Oh! I get…

From My Bookshelf

Diana, Herself – Women, you NEED to read this book!

7 Aug 202014 Aug 2020

I have just finished the most spectacular book (!!!!) called Diana, Herself by Martha Beck. She is a prolific self-help author. And a little head's up: I've written about her…

YouTube Videos Rise Again!

31 Jul 202013 May 2021

Well... no new one's yet. But here's my FIRST video, from two years ago TODAY! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uwPRmAFgjfU&t=222s And here's where you can find the whole shebang! All nine of my videos:…

From My Bookshelf

Remember this one? – Down Came the Rain

I did not have postpartum depression. When I was having children (in the early 1980s) it (postpartum depression) wasn’t “a thing”. Except, of course, it WAS. We just didn’t know about…

Interview – Marcella Burgess: Grabbing onto life with both hands!

You will remember Marcella from my shameless teaser from last week, linked HERE. You know how you meet people along your life's path and sometimes, they end up walking with…

Picture of the Day -“After the Storm”

Isn't it the truth? In weather and in life!

From My Bookshelf

Remember this one? – Strengths Finder 2.0

1 Jun 20201 Jun 2020

Don’t ask me why I’ve had Strengths Finder 2.0 (from Gallup) by Tom Rath for some time but had never gone online to take the test. I don’t know. So, today, I…

Self-Help Whispering

Easy like Sunday – Recalibrate

24 May 202025 May 2020

Once upon a time, I wanted to live in a yellow house with a potter's wheel in the small artist's studio out back, a sparkling blue swimming pool, art in…

From My Bookshelf

Fiction as Self-Help – In Five Years

22 May 202022 May 2020

In Five Years by Rebecca Serle is a book that will break your heart and put it back together again. Maybe. First things first: I only read it because we're…

Self-Help Whispering

Bio Moment – Boundaries, or not?

11 May 202011 May 2020

I've been having the same discussions with people closest to me. They all begin and end with the same question: When (if ever) is it appropriate to cut people out…

Picture of the Day -“Ghandi says…”

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