(From MOSF 16.7 about THE LONELIEST AMERICANS) Dear friends, Hope your month has gone well! I've got 2 relatively longer posts from East Wind and one short piece from Psychology Today to share. 10 days ago, I had my most social weekend of the pandemic, including a 50 person outdoor barbecue in Golden Gate Park. I walked home through a crowd of probably 2000 people watching the Judy Chicago Fire and Smoke event at the de Young Esplanade. It was a beautiful day, and it felt so good to meet new people, and be with others ...Continue Reading

Hi all, Hope you're enjoying these last few days of summer, and you and yours are safe and well. I've got two long articles and two short articles to share, all published since the last newsletter. MOSF 16.4: Film as Metaphor, Myth, Virtual Reality and Stepping Stone from Dismemberment to Belonging About 7K words about trauma and the potential healing environment of film. "This essay charts the psychological impact of trauma, but also connects to the ways film can offer us a virtual healing engagement of mind/hea ...Continue Reading

Hi all, I hope you might take a look at this New Yorker length profile of two really great books. MOSF 16.3: Minor Feelings and Sister Outsider: A Brown Psychiatrist Thingsabouddit – East Wind ezine  /History’s primary transmission is in feeling. Countries, systems and families break down, or work as designed and let down, in particular, marginalized individuals and groups, leading to eruption of dissonance and more subtle betrayals of affection. This leads to feelings: strong, ugly and minor. Cathy Park Hong’s ...Continue Reading

Hi everyone - Happy Interdependence Day! People become people through other people. No man is an island. We are who happens to us and what we make of the happening. One world is enough for all of us. (And it better be, because that's all we have, by the way!) 405 days ago, George Floyd was murdered. Darnella Frazier stood there, took note, shook the world, and remains shaking herself, to this day, traumatized by what she saw. At the very least, she is far from alone in her awareness of brutality and injustice. I'm s ...Continue Reading

Hi all, First the big news - the quirky, talky, decidedly non-journalistic documentary I made with poet/artist Truong Tran and psychoanalyst/artist QiRe Ching will have its virtual world premiere soon - and then will have its European premiere in July! It would be so wonderful if you would share the trailer and ticket link page with your community. The Bandaged Place: From AIDS to COVID to Racial Justice WORLD PREMIERE at the Queens World Film Festival on Sunday, June 27th, 2021 at 4 pm EST. Purchase tickets ...Continue Reading

Hi all, Thought you would appreciate this film premiering virtually at CAAMFest this Sunday, which I write about in this East Wind blogpost. I also spotlight a few films also involving Asian and Black relations. Most are available for free streaming. MOSF 16.2: AMERICANISH, a Rom-Com Window into Identity Formation for Asian American Women - East Wind ezine AMERICANISH is the must-see, groundbreaking debut feature from award-winning director/producer/writer and University of Florida Professor Iman Zawahry, one of ...Continue Reading

Hi all, It's been a trying time for Asian Americans. 4,000 incidents of verbal and physical abuse, five homicides, and then the Atlanta spa mass murder. The news of the latter hit me that Tuesday night, and I spent the first few days on social media, responding, being angry, learning and growing. By the weekend, I was floored and exhausted. It was hard to get out of bed that Saturday morning. I was in 'freeze' and 'avoid' mode, having been overwhelmed. My survival brain's buttons had been pushed and overwhelmed. I turn ...Continue Reading

Happy pandemic Valentine’s :) I hope you all are safe and well. This little box of chocolate covered memories, dreams and reflections comes out of my own life and our times. In the center, you will find some interesting themes of latency, and how racism affects the lives of children in often inchoate ways. Dedicated to all elementary school children, their parents and teachers, and all who treat the inner child. Written mostly as a letter to the girl whose heart I probably broke 44 years ago :( But who I remember to th ...Continue Reading

Ring in the New Year and ring out self-centeredness virtually at the Asian Art Museum this Thursday! Hi all, I'm offering a Short Course in Mindful Self-Compassion beginning January 13th. It's six weeks, one hour per week, and would be a nice boost to your year. Self-Compassion builds resilience and prevents burnout, among other qualities. 2 dozen participants benefited from my full workshop in the fall, but not everyone has the time to do the full course - so I'm offering this. It would be great if you could dist ...Continue Reading

Hi all, I'm just about to finish teaching my 8 week Mindful Self Compassion workshop. I modified the Center for MSC's program for the BIPOC community, and over 20 participants engaged and learned self compassion techniques. I'm very passionate about MSC, and am a member of the steering committee for the Self Compassion in Psychotherapy certificate program starting up next March. I offered this course for free or by donation, because there are many people who can't afford the going rate of $400-600. While I applied ...Continue Reading