Laurie
I live in Vancouver, BC with my husband Bruce, my dog Georgie, and my cat Nunki. We can't have kids, and we've made peace with it. I'm an introverted writer and morning lark! I love school, wine, animals, God, and my Quips and Tips blogs.
Here are three questions to ask yourself before deciding what to do after you find out your boyfriend had sex with his ex-girlfriend. Yesterday I got an anonymous email from a reader. Here’s an excerpt: “My boyfriend cheated, plain and simple. I don’t know how to deal with it. Before we got together, he had [...]
Sometimes journaling your feelings after a divorce or separation doesn’t help you heal. New research tells us when writing does more harm than good after a breakup. “I think many, many therapists have a tendency to believe that journaling unequivocally is a good thing to do [after divorce or separation], especially when people are trying [...]
A guy broke into my apartment in the middle of the night and tried to rape me. Even now – years later – those words choke me up. How did I survive without getting raped? I’ve been writing and blogging for almost a decade, but I’ve never written about how I survived the attempted rape. [...]
Do you sometimes feel paralyzed because of what people will think about your appearance, performance, opinions, and choices? These tips for overcoming fear of what people think are from life coach Arianna Merritt, M.Ed. “For years, I kept my mouth shut as I was too shy to speak up,” she says. “While I wasn’t afraid of [...]
What do you give someone who doesn’t have everything and yet wants nothing? These gift ideas are for people who don’t want more stuff to clutter up their homes. Like me. I know there’s a lot of stuff in this world that is interesting, beautiful, or even striking – but I don’t necessarily need to [...]
For better or worse, your life won’t be the same after a doctor’s diagnosis. These tips for coping with bad news from your doctor are from writer, speaker, and college professor Donnell King. “My wife and I were blessed with a special needs daughter who required a lot of care – she was hospitalized 22 [...]
Sometimes being diagnosed with a disease like cancer is more bearable than learning about your partner’s diagnosis of a terminal illness. Watching someone you love become sicker and sicker – knowing that death is coming – is one of the worst things to bear. Here’s what J says: “Hi Laurie, I met the nicest woman [...]
Learning the history of family allowance benefits in Canada was even more fascinating (and depressing) when I researched how the Inuit and Indian peoples were affected. Not much good news here, I hate to report. Oppression, marginalization, powerlessness, and even “dog tags” or discs with numbers instead of people’s names are the themes of family [...]
The first major disappointment I faced in life was not getting into graduate studies at Cornell, 20 years ago. My most recent disappointment is not getting a practicum placement now that I’m in grad school at UBC (I’m getting my Master’s of Social Work). That was two months ago. And I’ve had lots of — [...]
My friend just announced her pregnancy; I’m happy for her, but sad for us. Here’s how I deal with the sadness and frustration of not getting pregnant. We can’t have babies, and aren’t pursuing fertility treatments. I’m usually okay with my childless life – I’m the Bounce Back Babe, after all! But sometimes it hurts. I’ve [...]
Recent Comments