Blog | Dr. Amy Johnson

There is no Perfect Choice

*This post is Part I in a two part installment on making choices*Ever noticed how easy it is to get worked up when you’re choosing between options?Last week a client was struggling with the choice between being induced or letting her baby come on its own, both of which (given her health history) had a

The Whole Picture? Or Mentally Myopic?

Things often seem really dire when you’re up close. Like when you’re pregnant and sweaty and starving and you think your husband looked a little too long at a hot, un-pregnant woman on the street.When you accuse him of not loving you anymore, you’re looking at the situation a little too close up. Just like

How to Change the World

(I didn’t write this one…Illuminated Mind did. Originally titled “Change the world by Being Who you Are”)It’s easy to think that we don’t have an impact. It’s easy to say “I’m too small” or think that what you do doesn’t matter.That’s a lie.Every action you take ripples out into the world. Yes, you are an

The Cast of Characters in Your Life

Every once and a while I talk to someone who asks permission to end a friendship. They say something like, “Is it really okay that I stop calling?”, or “I can’t just ‘break-up’ with her…can I?” Here’s my view on relationships:Life is like a play—there are many scenes and a rotating cast of characters.Some characters

Wouldn’t THIS be Wild?

What if all humans were equal? Not just created equal…what if we couldn’t help but remain equals our entire lives no matter what happened to us or what choices we made? What if all the evidence we use to separate ourselves from others; all those facts and all that proof we use to decide that

You’re Doing Exactly What you Want to do

I hear a lot of people say that they want to do things they’re not doing.I say they don’t really want to do those things. They only think they want to.Like, you might say, “I’d really want to write a book” or “I’d love to be a long-distance runner” but if you don’t write and

Guilt is the Love of Staying Stuck

Guilt is an interesting emotion, isn’t it? It’s the same as regret, basically, except guilt involves an extra dose of “I suck” that plain old regret doesn’t always have. Guilt is choosing to feel badly about something that’s done and over. Arguing with reality because you chose to believe it should have of went down

stuck, STUCK, Stuck

I can’t tell you how many people tell me each week they’re stuck. It’s probably the most common complaint I hear. Although I know it’s annoying, I first clarify that although they might feel stuck, they are not actually stuck. Unless you sat on spilled super glue or stepped into quicksand, you’re not really.Everything is

How to Believe in Your Positive Qualities

In the newsletter a few weeks back I told you was reading a book called The Shadow Effect. “Shadow work” is relatively common in the self-help world…it’s about delving into and coming to fully embrace your shadow parts. Your shadow parts are similar to what you might think of as flaws or faults but that’s

Truth or “La, la, la”?

We were at dinner with friends the other night—our friends (another couple) and their teenage daughter. Our friends had just returned from a vacation where they left both teenage daughters at home. I asked the one that was having dinner with us, “So did you and your sister throw some wild parties while your parents