We’ve all been there. We’ve experienced heartache, disappointment or grief that can feel unbearable. And one of the worst things about these strong emotions is that they leave us feeling depleted, as though a light inside us has flickered out. And damnit, we want that light back!

The key to getting your groove back, says San Francisco stand-up comic Alicia Dattner, is “to make joy your guiding light, and to let humor into your life in order to make yourself more resilient to those ups and downs.” By getting in touch with your playful side, you’ll uncover your funny, radiant self and have more fun in relationships, lower your stress and release more of those happiness-producing endorphins. … //READ MORE

When we were in our twenties, my husband and I moved from the D.C. area to Austin, Texas, at a time when Austin rents were still comparable to a mortgage on a small home (aaah, the ’90s!). So we purchased a two-bedroom house in Rosedale, a cozy neighborhood settled in the 1940s near the University of Texas where the mostly tiny houses lacked dishwashers, garages or sidewalks, but compensated with mature Live Oak trees and other natural charm. My grandparents from Dallas fell in love with our place on their first visit, because it reminded them so much of their “starter home.”

We were welcomed to the neighborhood by our next-door neighbor, Mrs. Gest. Frieda Gest was one of several seniors still living on 40th Street, which was a dirt road when her first husband built their home. At 91 and widowed twice, she would walk with her cane to the chain link fence that separated our yards to chat, sometimes offering us a cutting from her yard or something she had baked. Whenever I took her an extra serving of whatever we had made for dinner, she always returned the container with homemade vanilla wafers in it. (I later learned that she kept a freezer full of cookies so that she always had something to offer.) These exchanges were always occasion for conversation that would often end with her genial “Now don’t rush off” and my pangs of guilt, even after an hour-long visit. … //READ MORE

The fleeting fling can be such a lovely experience. It’s especially more delicious when it happens in the middle of a dry spell, after a recent break-up, or just during a time when you are craving some attention from the opposite sex. After all, what woman doesn’t want to feel wanted and sexy? But what if this sexual company happens to be your ex—the husband, boyfriend or partner you thought you’d left behind forever? Is it ever a good call to give an old relationship—especially one you once slammed a door on—another spin (or two, or three)?

There could be many reasons why having an affair with an ex might seem appealing. We’ve all seen It’s Complicated, the romantic comedy where ex-spouses Meryl Streep and Alec Baldwin end up back under the sheets together some 10 years after their divorce. That liaison had hysterical and, well, complicated results, suggesting that there’s more for ex-lovers to consider than their renewed sexual attraction for one another.

Here’s where you need to be brutally honest with yourself and make a responsible decision about whether or not to risk “going back there.” … //READ MORE

Every season has its hue. Summer comes in shades of blue, from those periwinkle vacation skies to the deepest turquoise waters. Autumn’s treasure is its gold, red and orange harvest. And those “hazy shades of winter” range from cobalt gray to snow white. But what about spring? Yes, grass green and yellow sunshine and purple tulips come to mind. But in blessed places around the world, this season also brings an abundance of pink—in the stunning form of the cherry blossom.

These pale-pink beauties are part of the Prunas tree family, particularly Prunus serrulata, the Japanese Cherry tree, or sakura. In Japan, cherry blossoms symbolize clouds, probably because they tend to bloom en masse, and are also used as a metaphor for the ephemeral nature of life. Every year as spring approaches, the Japanese Meteorological Agency tracks the sakura zensen (cherry blossom front) as it moves northward up the archipelago. Since Japan’s fiscal and school year both begin in April, the first day … //READ MORE

There they were, two of the most formidable women in America, sitting side by side on the stage of Davies Symphony Hall in San Francisco: Arianna Huffington, president and editor-in-chief of the Huffington Post Media Group, and her friend Sheryl Sandberg, chief operating officer of Facebook. The media mavens united for this much-anticipated Commonwealth Club INFORUM event March 27 to discuss Huffington’s new book, Thrive, a heartfelt, inspirational read that poses an important question: How can women redefine success, not only in order to lead healthier, more productive lives, but also to change the world for the better?

For Huffington, that topic literally hit her hard one day in 2007 when she collapsed in her office, struck her head on her desk and ended up with a slashed eye and broken cheekbone. She saw several doctors to find out why she had fainted, but none could find anything medically wrong. But the reality was, during the two years leading up to the incident she had been working 24/7 building her new business, the Huffington Post. Yes, she had achieved success as defined by the traditional measures—money and power—but there was something missing. “There was nothing wrong with me—just with the way I was living my life,” she said. “Believe me, if you are lying in a pool of blood in your office … //READ MORE

I love going to the ballpark. I love watching the guys take batting practice before the game. I love the crack of the bat when it makes perfect contact with the ball. I love the collective roar of the crowd when the ball sails over the fence or a fielder makes a diving catch. I love sitting in the sun, drinking a cold beer and witnessing the ebb and flow of baseball.

What I don’t love are the times when, because I’m a woman, my fandom is treated like a trite passing interest. I don’t just pretend to like the game because of a boyfriend. I don’t watch baseball because I think Derek Jeter is cute or that Mike Trout has a nice butt. And I most certainly don’t wear a pink baseball hat.

Yet even with all the women out there at the ballpark—or watching football with friends at a local bar, or painstakingly pouring over their brackets during March Madness—patronizing attitudes still exist. … //READ MORE