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Read about my latest book: Tilt: Seeking Balance in Troubled Times. Available on Kindle NOW!
AUTHOR | PSYCHOTHERAPIST | MOTIVATIONAL SPEAKER | ARTIST
My Blog
Short 2-4 minute reads often on current topics, providing tools for addressing communication issues that we all face. These skills come from my forty year career as a psychotherapist. I design original chalk art for each post.
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Lifting
Two weeks after the U.S. Presidential election, I asked Denny, “How are you feeling after the results?” She answered, “I worked the...
Dr. Vin
Nov 22, 20243 min read
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Wayward
The soft gold sun at dusk lights the silver-green sage as I turn to walk down the dirt path around the still lake. I feel mellow after...
Dr. Vin
Jun 16, 20244 min read
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Where?
A Week After My Sister Bonny’s Funeral May 3, 2024 I am lost between worlds. I clutch the robe at my chest That feels heavy with the...
Dr. Vin
May 3, 20241 min read
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House
The thyme in the raised bed is mostly brown branches with few green leaves left. I see that the weedy thyme is spreading and encroaching...
Dr. Vin
Feb 25, 20244 min read
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Jury
I recently completed service as a juror on a four-week-long civil case where a woman laborer fell and was injured at her job at a nuclear...
Dr. Vin
Feb 8, 20244 min read
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Dreams
“Nana, see the moon up there?” My seven-year-old grandson points the camera phone to the dark sky, where I see a crescent moon. “Yes, I...
Dr. Vin
Oct 25, 20233 min read
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Plastic
I spent two hours lost in my small backyard garden, fertilizing and watering trees, trimming plants, and harvesting strawberries, basil,...
Dr. Vin
Aug 2, 20232 min read
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Name
I cut through the neighborhood park on my way home from walking my dog. I see a young woman near her blond, curly-haired toddler in the...
Dr. Vin
May 28, 20232 min read
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Covid 2023
“People think Covid is over. It’s not. I had someone die in the ICU last night.” “Oh, really?” “Yes, and your brother had two Covid...
Dr. Vin
Apr 10, 20233 min read
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Blizzard
I ring the front desk at six on Saturday evening. “The snow is blocking my front door. I can’t get out of my room.” “I will send staff...
Dr. Vin
Mar 7, 20236 min read
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Uproot
We walk up a bank that is muddy from the torrential California rains, Steve pulling the dog and then me following behind. As I come...
Dr. Vin
Jan 11, 20233 min read
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Donor
My best friend has kidney disease. She has been on dialysis three days a week and has spent two years looking for a kidney donor, which...
Dr. Vin
Nov 11, 20223 min read
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Pickleball
Game point. My husband serves the yellow ball crosscourt to me, I hit it back to him across the net, and he returns it to a corner I...
Dr. Vin
Oct 4, 20223 min read
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Queen
We drive up the hill out of the Target parking lot listening to the radio. “We have breaking news. Queen Elizabeth has just been...
Dr. Vin
Sep 8, 20222 min read
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Grapes
“Where are all the grapes, Wes?” “We aren’t carrying them. We support the workers who are on strike.” The middle-aged, dark-haired woman...
Dr. Vin
Aug 28, 20224 min read
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Raindrop
“I think your T-Rex killed my Raptor.” “No, tell him to get up. He has three more hearts left.” “Okay.” My hand-sized plastic grey Raptor...
Dr. Vin
Aug 17, 20222 min read
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Salvage
“Family: I regret to inform you that we have tested positive for Covid! We also made the decision to have the wedding with masks on and...
Dr. Vin
Jul 26, 20227 min read
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Hug
“Oh-oh, I just got a notice that there is an active shooter warning.” “What. Where?” “At the preschool and all the schools in the area.”...
Dr. Vin
Jun 16, 20222 min read
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News
I ask Alexa to play me the news, while I sit on the rocking chair. As I listen, I pull in my shoulders and cringe in fear, then grab the...
Dr. Vin
May 20, 20222 min read
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Time
To give my eyes a break from speedy moving screens, I take a walk and look up at the soft, blue, daytime sky. I see clouds that are in no...
Dr. Vin
May 19, 20222 min read
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