One of the key aspects to living a fulfilling life is to use our natural curiosity to explore our world, and to learn and grow ourselves. Trying new things or doing what you most love out there in the world helps keep our minds nimble as we age. It helps us build strong bonds with others who share in our happiness. But the mind has a powerful hold on us sometimes that makes finding one’s peace more challenging. And traumatic experiences can grab hold in one’s mind creating stubborn neurological patterns that lead to an entrenched cycle in the brain’s circuitry.

One of the key aspects to living a fulfilling life is to use our natural curiosity to explore our world, and to learn and grow ourselves. Trying new things or doing what you most love out there in the world helps keep our minds nimble as we age. It helps us build strong bonds with others who share in our happiness. But the mind has a powerful hold on us sometimes that makes finding one’s peace more challenging. And traumatic experiences can grab hold in one’s mind creating stubborn neurological patterns that lead to an entrenched cycle in the brain’s circuitry.

Spending time with family, seeing friends, making connections at work or in places we play, these are the life-lines that keep us tethered. They keep us focused on the precious moments that give life deep meaning. The webs of relationships, the six degrees of separation, are all a source of energy for us to draw strength from and replenish our souls. The bonds that we form with others that guide us in life, that we sometimes lose tragically or at best when it serves our needs, these connections help create who we are and how we live in the world.

Have you felt that excitement, that energy in your belly, when something happens that feels so right? As if it were meant to be. When your choices coincide with a feeling of purpose, for example, you are in fact connecting with a deeper energy within yourself. With that connection comes more awareness of intuitive moments, when the thing you need seems to pop out at you at the right moment.

The history of Ketamine in the mental health field dates back 50 years. In the 1960s it was FDA approved as a dissociative anesthetic. Due to this dissociative aspect, Ketamine began to be explored within the mental health field in the 1970s, as well as within the discipline of psychology. It was primarily used in medical communities outside of the United States where various psychotherapeutic methodologies were explored more widely. In those early years, Ketamine was found to produce positive results within the discipline of psychiatry and psychotherapy, and as a vehicle for exploration of the ego/Self within the field of transpersonal psychology.

I am encouraged by the activism taken up by students this week across the country. Politicians are unwilling to address our national crisis, though as a society we are consumed by it. It is a crisis that reaches to the depths of our being and affects our body politic at its core. With heavy hearts, it is our youth taking up the fight where we adults have failed. Naturally, children suffer the most from our lack of services and continual reduction in psycho/social growth, due to endless budget cuts. They ‘fall through the cracks’ every day.

There is a hard, individualistic, proudly American spirit in our cultural subconscious that makes it more challenging for many among us to show vulnerability. There is most definitely a stigma for men to show “weakness” and sometimes even love, though thankfully I see that changing with each passing generation. Some subcultures more than others within our communities suffer from a silence of compassion and support. And as a body politic (looking at ourselves from a socio-political perspective) we are suffering mind, body and spirit.

This time of year marks a transformative moment. We sense the impetus for change as the holiday season wraps into the New Year. We honor the marching of the seasons at the Winter Solstice by celebrating nature and the sacredness of light, as the day begins to lengthen again. The holidays encourage us to enjoy our nights with a break from the bustle to reconnect with friends and family. Perhaps shaking off some of the dustier sides of ourselves that have weighed us down throughout the year.

The holiday season is here! Hard to believe already. Stores went from marking down Halloween items to stocking Christmas decorations, skipping this month of November, it seems. A small section of Thanksgiving table settings remind us of the current season. Many retailers, as you know, began their grand holiday a few weeks early, too, with Black Friday sales starting off the month. I suppose I’m all for it. I am happy to see more signs this year noting store closing hours and the reason for doing so, allowing employees to celebrate the holiday in leisure.