Margot Heffernan

Author's posts

Of Air and Breath

“Breathing dreams like air”. ― F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby The world is a tiny place now, as each of us folds in on ourselves. There’s a dislodging, perhaps, from sensibility. Like Alice peering through the Looking Glass, we are prone to illusion, to falling into a boondoggle of thought and action. It’s a dangerous time. …

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The mind of Covid-19: Don’t succumb to groupthink

Believing is easier than thinking. Hence so many more believers than thinkers. —Bruce Calvert The number of Coronavirus cases is 353,905 worldwide, while the death toll, as of this writing has reached 15,420. Currently, 35,232 individuals in the U.S. have tested positive for this virus, also known as Covid-19. There have been 459 reported deaths. …

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Keeper of Faith (Or, God Doesn’t Care if You Wear Birkenstocks)

“Go where your best prayers take you.” ― Frederick Buechner   My mother’s name was Evelyn, and she was a storyteller, an artful historian with a gift for gab. Her memory my companion, still, is the fabric that shaped her voice, and mine. Evelyn, my mother, mom, ma, mommy, and, nanny, in the end, was …

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Redemption

The day misspent, the love misplaced, has inside it the seed of redemption. Nothing is exempt from resurrection. – Kay Ryan, poet   To be human is to embrace memory, or to grasp recollection the way a child squeezes a rubber ball in his tiny, clenched fist. Memory. It’s cornerstone, isn’t it? Bedrock, owned. Coveted. …

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Loss of Grief: A Brief History of the DSM 5

The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders is a reference book that contains standard criteria for the classification and diagnosis of mental disorders. It is considered an authoritative source of information for psychiatrists,psychologists, policy makers, health insurance companies, pharmaceutical companies,and other health care professionals. Published by the American Psychiatric Association, the DSM evolved out of systems …

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