Origin: Arizona, United States
“I was startled. This voice was inside my head, yet I heard it with my ears. I opened my eyes and sitting not 5 feet from me, cross-legged, was an American Indian. He was tangible and real. He was not a hologram or an apparition. He looked to me to be about 50 or 60 years of age and had the full regalia of Indian clothing—buck skin shirt and pants, chest piece, stone beading, and long, dark, shining hair. His countenance was regal and serene. His eyes showed me the wisdom of the world. I wasn't in any fear at all. In fact, I readily accepted him, as though he were my Father…”
Origin: Pennsylvania, United States
“In 1965, parents didn’t stay in the hospital with their children. In my case, my mother didn’t even come for daily visits. She was advised not to return until I was ready to be discharged. I assume the nurse’s training led her to believe that separation anxiety, especially with small children, is best dealt with by total separation of the parental unit. Boy, would Freud have had a field day with that nurse. But Freud wasn’t around. Thus, my young psyche took the blow of trust being violated at the time when trust is being developed within the psyche...”
Origin: Monterrey, Mexico
“I grew up with the fear of doing something new because of the risk of failure. Not because of the failure per se, but more because of the feeling of embarrassment that goes with it. For so many years, I refused to speak in public, to eat alone in a restaurant, and to publish all those stories I had in my mind. I didn’t want to expose myself to the critics and be embarrassed again.”
Origin: Montego Bay, Jamaica
“I had been suffering from insomnia and chronic pain for days. I simply didn’t have the strength to continue fighting what seemed to be a losing battle. That night, I got my medications, lay them on the bed before me and decided that I was going to take them all.”
Origin: Pennsylvania, United States
“As an adult, I know I am held accountable and personally responsible for that which occurs in my life. I experience the cause and effect of my thoughts, words, and deeds. But as an infant, I am not held accountable, but am the cause and effect of the decisions of others...”