When I Don’t Recommend ForgivenessBy Z Zoccolante For those of us who were raised in some type of religious setting we probably got a lot of mixed messages. Some of those are around forgiveness and this taboo idea of being selfish. As a therapist who works with trauma I hear many stories from people whose protecting parties in childhood (or the adults who were supposed to have protected them) have failed them resulting in...
Read More
Contrast Shows Us What We LoveBy Z Zoccolante Once upon a time I repeated the mantra – This is temporary. Everything is temporary. Nothing lasts forever. My brother calls this the happy sadness, how even the best feelings in life pass with the wind, leaving us back in the present moment and whatever that brings. Contrast is a part of life and it shows us what we value. It helps us fine tune the things that we desire moving...
Read More
Your Integrity is Showing By Z Zoccolante In one of my favorite TV shows, the Simpsons, Bart stands on the diving board of his backyard pool attempting to show off to his friends. The bully, Nelson, yells up to him, “Hey your epidermis is showing,” and Bart croons his head in panic to look over his body and ends up falling and breaking his arm. I think about this quote as I think, “Your integrity is showing.” Recently I’ve been...
Read More
I’m Going on an AdventureBy Z Zoccolante I’m going on an adventure and I’m going to bring . . . a cup of coffee. Do you remember that game? I remember playing it in summer fun where we’d go round the circle trying to figure out the secret code so you could go on the adventure. So, if were the first person to start I choose the code – let’s say every item had to be something you’d find in a kitchen, or started with...
Read More
The Precarious Business of Trusting GodBy Z Zoccolante Once upon a time I prayed to God. It wasn’t just a simple prayer, it was crawling to the closet to sob for an hour and to war for something to return to my life. I prayed and cried and wared like this for about four months with nothing to give me hope except my sheer force of will. And God said no. Not to my face exactly but he didn’t give me back what I prayed for in...
Read More
When We Do Bad Things to Feel GoodBy Z Zoccolante We’re sitting on cozy white couches as the sun reflects off the white marble outside and the deep blue water of the ocean spreads out in the distance. The conversation is about responsibility, how we define it and how that definition effects the way we think about ourselves and our past selves. Responsibility can be a tough one because we’ve all done things we might not go back...
Read More
Follow Me!