This week, singing star Mariah Carey made an announcement that was a long time in the making: back in 2001, she was diagnosed with bipolar II disorder. She has recently made the decision to treat it and to share her story. Carey is not the first celebrity to acknowledge a struggle with mental illness, but […]
After conquering her enemies and defending the weak, the superheroine peels off her mask and gently pats the flesh wound on her shoulder, where her costume was torn (again) in the heat of battle, exposing her flesh. She would have her costume repaired in time for the next battle, and the wound would heal. In […]
I’d like to introduce you to my friend Janelle Alberts (you can read more about her and her work at the end of this post). She’s got great things to say, and she says them in a way that both disarms and convicts me on a regular basis. She has a particular talent for helping […]
In a recent post on Leadership Journal’s PARSE blog, Joel Looper quoted some incisive words from German pastor and theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer: “It always seems to me that we leave room for God only out of anxiety.” This quotation–and the entire article–captured my attention because I’ve been thinking and writing a lot about worry and […]
Antoinette Tuff should be everyone’s hero. Last week, she stopped Michael Brandon Hill, a violent and desperate young man, from following through on an apparent planned mass shooting in an Atlanta-area elementary school. Tuff had been trained in crisis response, but otherwise, on the surface, she was not the perfect person for this job. She’s […]
My friend Karen (you can read more about her and her beautiful book at the end of this post) has provided this post, describing a story of personal transformation. Through financial crisis, she learned an important lesson we all need. This year, during Easter Vigil at Old St. Pats Catholic church in Chicago, I sat […]
A week ago last Friday, at 9:00 a.m., I cried and prayed for the family whose devastating sorrow would mean a new lease on life for my brother-in-law, Dan. I wrote about Dan, my sister, Cheryl, and their four children in a blog post back in January. Last year, Dan was diagnosed with the rare […]
© 2012 Amy Simpson.