First posted September 1, 2016. Here is an early response to my new book, There Will Be A Thousand Years of Peace and Prosperity and They Will Be Ushered in by the Women . I think it may be my most important book ever. Dear Anne, After being in – well, sort of – my original culture and family for 12 years now, I have often felt (and acted) crazy and lost, even while ratcheting up my recovery and doing some good physical healing work. Then it came to me to revisit Women’s Real

First posted August 29, 2016. I have noticed some interesting new trends of late. I have noticed the most surprising saying that we need to be “colorblind” and quit singling out Blacks, Hispanics, Latinos, Native Americans and people with different sexual orientation. These people saying this are going on to say something like, “We are all the same.” Interestingly enough, these are often the same or similar people who used to want to abolish Affirmative Action. Indeed, only y

First posted January 15, 2016. This morning, I awoke early to a spectacular, if delicate, art show outside my bedroom window. It only happens in the very early hours when the sun is low enough in the sky to be temporarily “caught” in the ethereal glisten of the spider webs hanging there. (We have an agreement, the spiders and I, that they can uninhibitedly indulge in their production of art to their heart’s content as long as it is on the outside of the screen. Both of us fa

First posted December 28, 2015. The Vespers by Sergei Rachmaninoff – written in 1915 – was first performed in Russia in 1915 to commemorate the soldiers who died in the first World War. Then communism came into power which banned sacred music and it was not again performed for 50 years. It is considered one of the world’s masterpieces. What a good example this is of how beliefs, especially political beliefs, can keep us from experiencing the beauty that our world has to off

First posted December 5, 2015. I have been talking about anger lately and have become clearer that I have always been uneasy with what seems to be a basic concept of AA that anger is “bad” for addicts and cannot be experienced under any circumstances. Having been raised in an Irish/Cherokee family, I have always found this idea of “anger being dangerous” not only confusing, it seems wrong to me. I have always seen anger as more like a celestial enema that periodically cleans

First posted November 16, 2015 I notice that I have become slow. At first, I thought it was because of old age. How I love old age! It can be blamed for anything and everything as the perfect absolver of any responsibility for anything. And, I have seen it used that way by myself and others. Then, my next excuse was because of my eyes. Before I had my cataract surgery, I was a bit blind and I was fascinated with how insecure I felt not quite knowing where I was in time and sp

First posted July 21, 2015. Tutu* Mango She stood there Hawaiian proud Hawaiian strong legs firmly rooted in her Rich Hawaiian A’ina Proud, Brave, Passionate, Generous Her fisted hands resting on her ample hips Her gaze Reaching for her Hawaiian sky Her proud girth much larger than my arms could reach a waist that would be an embarrassment to and disdained by a Haole woman (Haole – that is what the Hawaiians call white people Ha – the breath of God Ole – without Haole – peopl

First posted July 18, 2015. I just had a wonderful voicemail from one of my friends after my first eye surgery. In it, she talked about her needing to room alone when traveling and needing time to be alone. She put it in terms of introvert/extrovert. I was reminded of the time I took the psychological test for introversion-extroversion. It wasn’t that I was “balanced between” introversion and extroversion (trying to force me into a dualism!!!), I was high on introversion and

First posted July 13, 2015. Some Thoughts I am sitting here looking out over the greenest possible meadow, with the accompaniment of my favorite Hawaiian artist, Ledward, a chorus of birds, the sounds of the waterfall and the slight creaking whispers of the bamboo grove. If ever there was cause for celebration and gratitude, this surely must be it. Hawaii, as usual, has taken in my exhausted body and soul and has slowly and surely, quietly and gently worked its healing magic.

First posted May 20, 2015. When I first returned to Hawaii this year, I was here alone for two weeks. Roger, the caretaker, was here, of course, and he is wonderful and helpful if I really need something and he works and has his own busy life. So, anything I needed to do, I needed to do myself. Since my living and sleeping space had been cleaned by a wonderful friend, I did not have to face that ordeal. It seemed that my only task (other than my usual work!) was to do the foo

First posted January 19, 2015. I have been dealing with the issue of passivity in some people close to me lately and I find it quite maddening. Yesterday, I had the awareness that passivity is not a “thing” in-and-of-itself. It is a by-product. This is why it is so difficult to deal with – because it is not real. It is like trying to swat a fly that is not really there. Passivity is really an outgrowth of a con. Living and working with addicts for many years, I get many oppor

First posted January 11, 2015. One of the beauties of growing older is that there is such a full cauldron of memories inside me that can float up to the surface upon my awakening in the morning. This morning, I woke up with a poignant, sweet memory of my second visit to Australia. I had been invited to give a Living in Process workshop and speech in Armidale, New South Wales. I had requested that those inviting me arrange a meeting with a few local Koori (Aboriginal) elders u

First posted January 5, 2015. Hi All, It was one of those days when I had so much to do I didn’t know where to start so I decided to do the unusual. I made myself a cup of tea, splashed with just a bit of stevia for a treat, kicked back in my favorite lounge chaise, put my feet up and decided to catch up on some mid-day news. I was a bit irritated that Ted Turner had pulled CNN out of the Dish Network system (I never did get the whole story on that one. I do wish those corpor

First posted December 13, 2014. Living out in the country as we do, we have fallen into the habit of keeping in touch with the world by...

First posted December 4, 2014. Changing a Mood I have been a group facilitator for most of my life. I was “trained” as a group facilitator back in the early 1950’s and have since then worked as a group facilitator in one way or another – therapy groups, conscious-raising groups, organizational consultant, church groups and classes. Working with groups large and small has been an integral part of my life and I continue to be fascinated with the myriad of ways groups function

First posted December 2, 2014. The good news is – everyone who reads my new book Becoming a Hollow Bone absolutely loves it and finds it so helpful. The bad news is – two fold – it is already sold out and the publisher did not order a re-print when he saw that this was happening. The bad news is – – I don’t know what happened between my submission and the printing, and the way it came out was not user-friendly (in spite of that it is getting excellent responses) – – As it wa

First posted October 21, 2014. I was recently interviewed about the work I am doing for an article online by an excellent interviewer, Cathy Cassata. You can see it at the link below in case you’re interested. http://www.thefix.com/content/want-heal-participate Anne Wilson Schaef, Ph.D.

First posted August 29, 2014. Women of a Certain Age I am of the decided opinion that women over eighty should be absolved of the...

Anne Wilson Schaef, Ph.D., DHL Doctorate in Clinical Psychology Honorary Doctorate in Human Letters – Kenyon College Dedication For those...