Posts Tagged ‘#connectedness’
Room for Me
I never knew I was black until I came to Miami. I had spent most of my childhood in Haiti, in a community that was already made for me and people like me. Though I understood there were social classes that dictated my place in society, I was comfortable knowing where I belonged. But when…
Read MoreYou Are Your Network: Neuroscience and the Need to Belong
Did you know that our social lives define our sense of self? In other words, when we think about who we are, we tend to think in terms of our membership in a group. Does this sound counterintuitive? After all, we know humans are social beings. We know we gain physical and emotional benefits from…
Read More“Where in Africa are you from?”
The following is excerpted from Twelve Unending Summers: Memoir of an Immigrant Child: Years ago, when I was doing my residency in Chicago, I was making my way through the hospital cafeteria when a tall, slender, white attending physician approached. He looked me up and down, almost as though in resignation. “Where in Africa are you…
Read MoreNo, Self-Love Won’t Make You a Narcissist
Show yourself some compassion. Show yourself some love. Every day we are encouraged to love ourselves and give ourselves grace, to make the practice of self-compassion part of our daily routine. But doesn’t all this talk of self-compassion and self-love place too much emphasis on the self—steering us away from developing compassion and empathy for…
Read MoreUnder the Coconut Tree
The following is excerpted from Twelve Unending Summers: Memoir of an Immigrant Child: One warm morning in La Rivière des Nègres, my dad took me to the northwest side of the house and showed me four coconut trees. Given their size, I thought they must have been planted about six to eight months earlier. “One of…
Read MoreIs Loneliness Making You Sick? 5 Easy Ways to Improve Social Connections for a Longer and Happier Life
Did you know that loneliness is now considered a chronic illness? Because we are naturally social beings, we need others to share in our joys, accomplishments, and particularly our crises. It is well documented that isolation and lack of social interaction, which lead to anxiety and chronic stress, have been associated with higher risks for…
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