Bill Brenner

I Accept God’s Plan, But I Don’t Have to Like It

by Bill Brenner October 15, 2012 Communication Skills

I’ve spent my life accepting God’s plan. Whenever I think of the deaths of my brother and best friend, I chalk it up to God’s plan. Surely, I tell myself, their deaths were part of some greater good mere mortals could never understand. Accept it, yeah. But I’ve never liked losing those two. There’s a lot in life that may be part of God’s plan. I truly believe that I have to accept it and…  [Read More]

Slavery A ‘Blessing In Disguise,’ Says Another Asshole

by Bill Brenner October 12, 2012 Communication Skills

I’ve seen a lot of Facebook memes that are full of distortions and outright lies this political year. I’ve learned to dismiss most of them as garbage from the left and right. The problem is that this one centers around a comment this guy actually made. Read and discuss.

Prayers For Nana Ruth

by Bill Brenner October 12, 2012 Gratitude

Erin’s maternal grandmother, Ruth Robinson, has always been one of my favorites among the in-laws. Her smile is contagious. She loves unconditionally. She’s always there for all of us. Now, she needs all of us to be there for her. Nana Ruth has been in the hospital for the last couple weeks, and a few days ago she suffered a stroke. I don’t think she’s ever used a computer in her life, so she won’t see…  [Read More]

Cheering My Aunt As She Fights Breast Cancer

by Bill Brenner October 12, 2012 Gratitude

My Aunt Robin has been valiantly fighting breast cancer for the last several months, and I wanted to take a moment and thank her for showing us all how to do it with humor, grace and grit. Mood music: [spotify:track:4ygP2GX8MbCufiYz77XZtl] She’s always been a tough one. Why cancer chose to pick a fight with her is beyond me. It obviously had no idea who it was fucking with. I’m not the best nephew when it…  [Read More]

OCD Awareness Week

by Bill Brenner October 12, 2012 OCD

Here we are at the end of OCD Awareness week and I’m only now remembering to write about it. I guess you could say my ADD ran over my OCD. Obviously, OCD awareness is the central mission of this blog. But it’s better for me to observe this week by leading you to others who are fighting the good fight. We recently set up a resource page for that purpose. Please take some time and…  [Read More]

Happy Depression

by Bill Brenner October 11, 2012 Depression

I’ve been in a mental space lately that some would consider strange. I’m somewhat depressed but also fairly content and happy. To most people, feeling all those things at once doesn’t make sense. You’re either happy or depressed. But I’ve found that it’s more complicated than that. Mood music: [soundcloud url=”http://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/33409634″ iframe=”true” /] I used to spend my depressive episodes curled up in a ball, feeling sorry for myself. Depression was cause for making the…  [Read More]

Led Zeppelin Gets Me Through the Rain

by Bill Brenner October 10, 2012 Music therapy

A while back I wrote about how Van Halen’s music helps me through  the winter blues. Too much rain can depress me, too, and for that I’m finding a remedy in Led Zeppelin. Mood music: Like most teenage rock fans, I listened to Led Zeppelin nonstop, studied every lyric and guitar solo and read any book in which they were at least mentioned. I remember reading Hammer of the Gods when I was 15, and…  [Read More]

The Winter Bill Blues

by Bill Brenner October 9, 2012 Depression

This is a typically a shitty time of year for me, when I come off the high of summer and crash hard onto the cold pavement. When the days grow shorter and the air colder, I become easy prey for seasonal depression. And when that state of mind sets in, I usually do something very stupid. Winter 2011: By February, I was forgetting things all the time, including Valentine’s Day. I was traveling on this…  [Read More]

Was She Bullied, or Did the Truth Cut Too Deep?

by Bill Brenner October 4, 2012 Communication Skills

A good friend disliked yesterday’s post, “The Fat Lady Sang, And It Was Beautiful.” His main criticism was that I centered it on my own weight battles, which I traced back to Crohn’s Disease, Prednisone and addiction. Mood music: [spotify:track:1DH4YwHHGBkWO8dX3JISjl] Livingston, a morning anchor at WKBT in La Crosse, Wisconsin, went on air after getting an email that read in part: Surely you don’t consider yourself a suitable example for this community’s young people, girls in…  [Read More]

The Fat Lady Sang, and It Was Beautiful

by Bill Brenner October 3, 2012 Communication Skills

I just read about some asshole who told an overweight news anchor that she’s a bad role model for children. As someone who has had a lifelong struggle with weight, this hits me like a punch to the gut. Mood music: [spotify:track:66s9KuIsH7xoJDQerDhX69] Jennifer Livingston, a morning anchor at WKBT in La Crosse, Wisconsin, went on air after getting an email that read in part: “Surely you don’t consider yourself a suitable example for this community’s young people,…  [Read More]

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