Flirting with Fear: The Viktor Frankl Lesson
Fear has many faces. Sometimes it’s the quiet whisper at three in the morning, when the world feels heavier than your chest.Sometimes it’s the tremor before change — that moment when you know the old chapter is ending but the new one hasn’t begun. We all know that feeling. And yet, even in humanity’s darkest hours, there are those who…
The Weight of My Hunger
Behind every woman who struggles with food, there’s often a story woven from survival, tenderness, and the quiet ways we learned to cope. My story — the one that shaped my understanding of emotional eating and healing — began the year my body stopped working the way it once did. After a serious car accident, I found myself trapped inside…
When Love Was Served on a Plate
Emotional eating and love often grow from the same place: a kitchen filled with care, intention, and the only love language many mothers knew. For many of us, love arrived as buttered toast, warm casseroles, or second helpings we didn’t ask for. We heard things like: “Eat, you’ll feel better.”“Don’t waste food.”“Take another helping — I made it for you.”…
Why Diets Never Worked for Me (and What Finally Did)
One rainy night, everything I thought I could count on shattered. My car spun out, my body was thrown, and in an instant, I was broken open on the pavement. Here is why diets never worked for me after that: I survived, but I did not feel free. Survival did not feel like freedom. While my bones healed, I unraveled…
A World of Flavors in Los Angeles: Eating Well Without Losing Balance
One of the best things about living in Los Angeles is that you don’t have to hop on a plane to taste the world. A few blocks in any direction, and you can be transported into new flavors. Healthy eating in Los Angeles means sushi in Little Tokyo, rich stews in Little Ethiopia, curries in Artesia’s Little India, or steaming…
Front Row, Filet Mignon: Fashion Week Lessons in Food and Presence
It was New York Fashion Week, 2007. I sat front row at Karl Lagerfeld’s show, notepad on my lap, every inch the unassuming journalist. What I did not realize was that my vintage blond mink coat, a 1950s beauty with embroidery fit for royalty, had just made me public enemy number one with the fashion police. The temperature outside was…
The Shadow of Addiction
Addiction wears many masks. Sometimes it looks like cigarettes or wine. Sometimes it hides in overeating, endless scrolling, shopping for things you don’t need, or even working yourself to exhaustion. On the surface, these struggles look different. But beneath every mask, there’s a shadow. And when you shine a light on it, what you almost always find is fear. That’s…
How to Stay Clean and Sober for the Long Haul
Every September, National Recovery Month shines a spotlight on the courage it takes not only to get sober, but to stay sober. Because, as anyone in recovery will tell you, it isn’t just about stopping the destructive habits—it’s about building a life worth staying sober for. I’ve been clean and sober for many years now, and I know from experience…
Recovery Month and the Light in Our Shadows
September is National Recovery Month, a time to honor the courage it takes to heal and to celebrate the strength found in recovery. For me, recovery isn’t only about putting down what hurts us—it’s also about discovering the parts of ourselves we’ve hidden away. That’s the heart of recovery and shadow work in real life. Turning Toward the Shadow The…