What will ring true to trauma victims is a more recent observation on Justice. In his work Pensées (Thoughts), French philosopher and mathematician Blaise Pascal found that: "Justice without strength is helpless, strength without justice is tyrannical." Pascal But still, justice is not law, which is the codified set of rules that, in theory, society puts in place to create an orderly society. Technically, these rules set out to serve justice, but the lawmakers are politic

Cicero said, "The worst kind of injustice is to look for profit from injustice." And across centuries, the same warnings of the ancient repeat: justice erodes the moment power learns it can cloak its self-interest in the language of law. And people still seek access to justice, yet sometime find only injustice in the legal system.

I’m an estranged parent and was once a huge Oprah fan. Do I regret letting my kids watch the Oprah show with me? Absolutely! Yet Oprah has a new, again monetized platform on a trendy subject. Would I trust what she has to say? Absolutely not! Those who eventually know better do better.

Likely, the skills you learn along the way and the emotional growth will mean that if and when your child reconnects, you are best placed not to mess it up. But it's best not to make that your goal. Look within for you. For you. For your better, happier life.

Finding meaning in suffering seems a little counterproductive. Suffering is what you want release from, yet by finding meaning in it, you hold onto it, putting it at the centre of your life, your identity. Yet finding meaning in suffering can be one of the most cathartic experiences.

Perhaps the most frustrating part of the fear of success is self-sabotage. You know you can do something, yet somehow you can't. After working hard towards a goal and achieving some success along the way, it's often at the last hurdle that we inexplicably throw in the towel. Because there’s that seed of doubt someone planted deep in your psyche as a permanent reminder that you don’t deserve success.

Justice, Cicero’s "mistress and queen of all the virtues," now depends on its interpretations, and the interpretation of justice depends on who the interpreter is. Judges and lawyers, the purveyors of justice, are vital cogs in the wheels of justice, and we rely on them to interpret justice- ethically and honestly.

Losing a child who has passed is devastating, something one can never fully recover from. But when a living child is as unreachable as one no longer in this realm, the grief is the same, except the confusion over how it happened heightens the grief. Added to this is the shamefully undeserved shame society spews at them. Yet still, hope keeps them going, but soon becomes a barrier to being able to grieve and pick up the pieces of their lives.

Greed wasn’t a thing when the first group in the hominid species broke away to form the homo sapiens clan, probably about 300-400 thousand years ago. However, AI is creating an increasingly uneven and unbalanced world, one where the greedy thrive at the expense of the generous rest. Our survival is no longer about need- it’s about greed. And there are two distinct sides emerging in the human race. What is Greed? Greed, an insatiable and selfish desire for something, especiall

And to corrupt René Descartes' philosophy, I think, therefore I am. I live, love, and especially hope. Nobody promised us life would be fair, but we still have hope that our lives will be happy and meaningful. It’s how humans are built.

The Helter Skelter scenario is an apocalyptic vision reportedly embraced by serial killer and cult leader Charles Manson and members of his "family" that led to several brutal murders and a multitude of ruined lives. It's much the same with Parental Estrangement. Except that with the Parental Estrangement scenario within families, the bodies are not physically dead, but the nothingness that is left within can feel like it, until we find ourselves on a healing path, make sens

A kinkeeper- the gatekeeper to the family, is a family member, usually, but not always, a woman, who takes on the role of maintaining family connections  and fostering a sense of solidarity within the family circle. Authentic kinkeepers play a key role in keeping the family together, acting as the emotional glue that holds things humming along despite family tensions that rise from time to time. It's a vital role in a world where connection with family is weakening, and ment

Men, particularly lion-hearted men, tend to disown their emotions, and the emotions of others, or at least assign them significantly less prominence than say putting food on the table- including their quest to earn a good living in their career or business, which, some think will be key to getting to be the one to copulate with the lioness, but also to give their families a better life.

For if and when your estranged child decides to walk through your door, keep it open. Your grown-up child will find a way to return when they are ready. But no parent will want to turn it into a blame session, even if there is a good reason to. Throwing your pain back at 'the source' is unproductive and will send them running.

We all know our value, although it is sometimes hidden under layers of fear and pain. We all have something to give the world, something meaningful: ourselves. And this value may be where we can finally learn why we are deserving of all the blessings and happiness life has to offer.

Take that "kick me" sign down, demagnetize the undeserved abuse, and go forward into a better, happier life using your magnetic personality- your kindness tempered by tolerance, your caring balanced with care for yourself.

But I didn’t escape that life by cutting her off. I escaped by finding my real identity. It was within me all along, and despite everything, my mother is still an intrinsic part of me, despite having left this realm.

It also makes sense that we are subconsciously driven by the human desire to connect with others- perhaps the human soul's desire is to attempt to return to oneness, to the one single cell with a particular place in the cosmos. So we reach out to other humans to connect with them for a while, before fears and tears drive us apart again, despite having a genetic link to every other human, and every other life form on Earth.

An adult child might feel that they lose themselves in the relationship, and don't return for fear of being drawn back into painful dynamics with their mother, or, in some cases, feel too guilty to face their mothers and are unable to get out of the corner they painted themselves into. The mother, who may then be dealing with depression and other issues, deals with any reconciliation attempts clumsily and may also be experiencing guilt and sitting in her unpainted corner.

Once limited to being an essential weapon for narcissists and psychopaths, dehumanization has seeped into many facets of life, as people struggle to survive and strive to thrive. Too many people choo se to dehumanize those around them as a response to conflicting motives, denying full humanity in others, cruelly inflicting suffering . The so-called personal growth through the generations has shifted from the stoic “Greatest Generation’s” selflessness and willingness to sacr