Category Archives: Uncategorized

Today, 21st of December, is the shortest day of the year. For me, it’s always been a day of relief, especially since moving to the Netherlands, where the difference between winter and summer is measurable in hours of sun and it is so much more consistently than it is in Italy. It’s the day thatContinue reading “Happy shortest day of the year”

December is an existential month, especially in a year like this.⁣ A recap of the process we have, willingly or not, been the protagonists of for the past 12 months.⁣ For me, looking back at this past year means coming to terms with the bulky presence of the body, enhanced by forced distances, reflection onContinue reading “Us between freedom and fate”

According to the American Psychological Association (2017) there are many ways to increase our resilience. ⁣1. It’s important to actively foster a sense of self-efficacy (remind yourself of what you are able to accomplish, be helpful to others, make small daily steps to reach your goals).⁣2. Optimism can really help when in a realistic form,Continue reading “8 steps to resilience (by APA)”

Our brain is a complex machine, an incredibly smart one that tries to maximise our quality of life, by making us more adaptive, learning from our mistakes and mastering the skills we use the most.⁣⁣‘Plasticity’ refers to the ability of transforming itself according to needs, whether they are ours or our environment’s. Our brain isContinue reading “Plastic Brain”

Resilience vs. Recovery ⁣⁣We can all agree that dip might look scary, when compared to an amazingly unaffected straight line. ⁣When experiencing – or even expecting – a trauma, or a struggle of any kind and degree, we can feel as if losing our own grip on reality. We can face apathy, despair, a detachmentContinue reading “Resilience vs. Recovery”

According to a study from Lopez and Snyder (2009) our ability to be resilient derives from a good parenting style: the authoritative one, characterised by “qualities of warmth and affection that also provide structure and support to the child”. So, as often happens, a good attachment – and good relationships in general – seems toContinue reading “Resilience: multi-dimensional”

Here comes our November theme: #RESILIENCE.⁣⁣The word ‘resilience’ is increasingly (mis)used. ⁣Originally, it was defined as the mechanical attribute of an object of⁣ “resuming an original shape or position after compression or bending”, and it has been brought to the psychology world with figuratively the same meaning: the ability to “bounce back”, to be unaffected (orContinue reading “November theme: Resilience”

Today, we talk about denial.⁣ Very similar to repression, it also works by excluding unacceptable thoughts and feelings, but goes further in actively denying them.⁣ “It’s not as bad as it seems” so the event and its consequent emotion are belittled, and assume a different connotation.⁣ A very relevant example is the denial many ofContinue reading “Denial of our time”

The series comes to an end, and together with the last two arguments we also delineate some important take-home messages of the whole book. First, we go back to the statement “It’s better to enjoy than to live”, trying to explore how the desire has in it a dark part that feeds not on wellbeingContinue reading “Eulogy of the unconscious – Part 6”

It’s almost the end of our ambivalence month. We talked, up until now, about the ambivalence that constitutes our roots, the coexistence of opposing realities that can find a space to live together, to keep confronting each other. But some ambivalences are much more urgent. Choosing between two jobs, deciding whether to stop smoking, havingContinue reading “A final reflection on ambivalence”