sherryderen

Props for a Closing Window

I started thinking about aging when I was in my 50s. What would I do once my children left home? How would I spend my time when I stopped working full time and my career ended? What would provide meaning in my life? I didn’t worry too much about it then because my life wasContinue reading “Props for a Closing Window”

The Time of My Life

As a verbophile, a person who loves words, I often enjoy thinking about words or expressions with multiple meanings. There are some expressions that change in meaning as I get older. The time of my life is a phrase that I think a lot about now. I am in the time of my life whereContinue reading “The Time of My Life”

Postponement Strategies

During my 50 year+ career, I was always task-oriented, whether there was a project at work to finish, or household chores to do. Time seemed, and was, very limited. There were always multiple tasks waiting to be done, so I worked hard to get each one completed as best and as quickly as I could.Continue reading “Postponement Strategies”

Shedding

I always associated shedding with something animals did, like snakes shedding their skin, or dogs shedding hair. I haven’t thought about it for humans until recently, when I became aware of my own shedding activities—the involuntary and the voluntary. The first to show up was hair loss. Since I always had thick hair, it wasn’tContinue reading “Shedding”

Gender Differences: Some Observations About Sensory Capacities

After more than forty years of marriage, I have concluded that there are differences between men and women in their sensory capacities. Visual field perception Research has found that men outperform women on spatial tasks, like visualizing how a 3-D object would appear if it were rotated in space. But there are other spatial tasks,Continue reading “Gender Differences: Some Observations About Sensory Capacities”

Still Among the Youngest

I never liked being the youngest of three children, with a brother four and a half years older and a sister eleven years older. As the youngest child, I always felt a bit of an outsider and I couldn’t do many of the fun things my older siblings were allowed to do. Also, I skippedContinue reading “Still Among the Youngest”

Mathematics at Home

Some schoolchildren wonder why they need to learn mathematics. They believe it will not be of any practical use since calculators are readily available. As a research scientist, I have often used statistics in my work, and have appreciated their utility. As I get older I find that mathematical concepts and numbers are especially helpful,Continue reading “Mathematics at Home”

Stages of Change for My Changing Stages

I conducted behavioral research related to substance abuse for many years, and became familiar with a construct called the Stages of Change Model, developed by Prochaska and DiClemente. This model posits that individuals may move through five stages as they undertake health behavior change: precontemplation, contemplation, preparation, action, and maintenance. Clinical and research efforts usingContinue reading “Stages of Change for My Changing Stages”

Living With Contradictory Beliefs

I have always liked the concept of cognitive dissonance. That’s when you have two beliefs or behaviors that are contradictory to each other, and you feel uncomfortable because it is difficult to hold on to both of them. For example, you would experience cognitive dissonance if you see a friend who you think is aContinue reading “Living With Contradictory Beliefs”

Don’t Get Stuck At Your Setpoints

It has been found that our bodies have some setpoints. These are stable and optimal ranges of some physiological characteristics, like our weight and even our experience of happiness. Research indicates that genetics accounts for about 50% of setpoints, so that means I have some control over the remaining 50%. I have had mixed successContinue reading “Don’t Get Stuck At Your Setpoints”