by Dr. Randy Kamen Gredinger
While most of us were celebrating the July 4th weekend with friends and family, barbecuing, watching fireworks and ushering in the summer, a teenage girl was brutally murdered. The chilling death of 18-year-old Lauren Astley appears to have been at the hands of her former 18-year-old boyfriend, Nathaniel Fujita. Both teens come from Wayland, Massachusetts, which I often refer to as “Pleasantville”–simply because nothing much seems to happen here. Our little enclave feels like a safe haven from [click to continue…]
July 10, 2011
by Dr. Randy Kamen Gredinger
My relationship with my father was complex. I sometimes wondered what I would say upon his death. Perhaps I would say nothing or perhaps I would blurt out all those things I never dared to express to him directly. Two weeks ago today my father died unexpectedly. Convoluted and tumultuous feelings continue to swirl through my mind and body–there is an ebb and flow and the occasional tsunami of emotion.
In the end I found it to be both healing and instructive to write some of my thoughts down that I said before my friends and family at his Shiva. I chose to mindfully honor my father and the life he lived. What guided me in my search for the right words [click to continue…]
April 11, 2011
One school’s plan to ban bullying and create a caring community… Two boys, perspiring and smudged with playtime dirt, approach the main office of their elementary school. Seeming right at home, they rush past the secretary’s desk, making a beeline to the principal’s open door. The principal invites them in, and one at a time they explain their plight—several of their classmates wouldn’t let them join a basketball game. In addition, they said that one particular child had called them names, telling them [click to continue…]
December 6, 2010
Tagged as:
Bullying,
Loneliness,
Resilience
by Dr. Randy Kamen Gredinger
Bullied for the first time during recess in second grade, Spencer recalls the kids laughing at him for being pale and skinny. I met Spencer shortly after his fifteenth birthday. He was released into my care after an unsuccessful suicide [click to continue…]
November 19, 2010
Tagged as:
Bullying,
Life Lessons
by Dr. Randy Kamen Gredinger
Women are formally stepping into leadership roles more than ever before. But the truth is, women have been leaders in their families, communities, and businesses all along.
According to Martha Beck, life coach and Oprah columnist, certain women are born with the natural tendencies of shamans. These “shaman-types” have historically [click to continue…]
November 5, 2010
Tagged as:
caretakers,
Community,
DrRKG,
shamans,
successful leaders,
Women and leadership
