#attachment

#attachment

'Cats may get along with us, but they don't depend on the help or security we can provide. 'So while dogs can be a bit like our children, and rely on us, that is not the case for cats. 'It is likely because they are still able predators who can catch their own food, so don't technically need us to feed them, and because cats whose owners leave them just end up going feral and living independently.'

When my parents divorced when I was twelve, I thought I'd learned what not to look for in relationships. Turns out, I'd actually created a blueprint that I kept following without even realizing it. The emotional unavailability I swore I'd never tolerate? I was actively attracted to it, mistaking that familiar feeling of trying to win someone over for genuine chemistry.

Relationship research has made it distinctively clear that most relationships don't fail because of singular, isolated, catastrophic events. More often, they disintegrate because of our patterns-the ones that once felt safe and protective, but have turned corrosive and misaligned with our relationship over time. We might keep asking ourselves, "Why do I keep ending up here?"without any good answer coming to mind, or assume that we always "attract the wrong partners."

My daughter refused to accept what she was being told and sat by my side, tapping and singing softly. She sang my Hebrew kindergarten songs, one after another, continuously without pause. These were the songs I sang to her when she was small. She sang instinctively, as if her body knew something before her mind did. As if she understood, without explanation, how to bring her mother back to life.

Individual development and family rituals begin in the family's communication crucible, where infants first encounter the external world through face-to-face interaction. These immediate personal exchanges, involving eye contact and the first sounds of conversational speech, begin to form the core neurobiological and social foundations of attachment, early social cognition, and emotional development (Farroni et al., 2002; Trevarthen & Aitken, 2001; Feldman, 2007).

The 2025 film Frankenstein reframes Mary Shelley's story as a narrative told across two worlds: Victor speaking on a freezing ship after being rescued, and the Creature recounting his long journey of wandering and despair. Healing Through Storytelling The film is structured through storytelling itself-Victor's tale told under duress, and the Creature's own response as a counter-story he had held inside for years. Their exchanges suggest how many relationships fracture when we fail to tell the stories that hold our pain

It always surprises me where mushrooms appear. Out of the side of a decaying log. From the dark soil where last season's leaves have been left to rot. Sometimes, even bursting through dung left behind on a forest path. Something once considered waste - lifeless, discarded, and forgotten - suddenly becomes an opportunity for new growth. In this way, mushrooms make me think about what happens when relationships fail.

Healthy intimate relationships require that both partners see each other and love what they see. Sometimes, needy individuals see what they want to see in others, rather than seeing who they really are. This causes them to frequently experience and express disappointment with their partners. If your partner is chronically disappointed with you, you are in an unhealthy relationship that is harmful to your mental health.

Self-soothing advice is all over the internet, much of it in the form of warnings to avoid potentially damaging sorts like "shopping therapy" or bingeing on Ben and Jerry's, or worse, vodka martinis. Instead, experts suggest using the "good" ones, which seem to run the gamut from stimulating your vagus nerve to hugging yourself. Among the University of Miami's recommendations to faculty and staff in their current summer newsletter is "tapping."