sign up today and connect with screamfree

  • The Two Shall Remain Two

    Perhaps the biggest mistake couples make is assuming once they get married they are, forevermore, one combined unit. There is no more “I,” there is only “we.” Like conjoined twins, they are…

  • The time between all or nothing

    As in all areas of life, there are two extremes to following a routine: All, or nothing. Most people naturally gravitate towards one of…

  • You Don’t Have to Go to Work Today

    As most of us head back in to work today, let’s embrace a freeing truth: We don’t have to. None of us have to go to work today at all, much less the particular jobs we occupy.

  • Halos & Nooses

    When we try so hard to do everything perfectly, perhaps portraying the “model” mom or dad, we might as well think of it as tightening a noose. We are not only choking the life out of our own experiences, but we’re unwittingly…

  • Is Your Partner Pulling Away?

    When we sense our partner distancing from us, we try to pull our partner closer. Of course, this tends to make them want to pull even further away. By trying to make your spouse…

  • Thank you all…

    One of the reasons I love public speaking so much is the opportunity to see in real time the effect…

  • A Pause from the Pause

    In honor of his birthday today, Hal is taking the day off from the Pause. So…

  • If I had one last breath…

    If I had one last breath, to utter one last piece of advice, it would be this:

  • There’s no “we” in romance

    Far too often, it seems like we married folks are facing a choice—pursuing a better “we” or pursuing a better “me.”
    One can feel self-suffocating, especially when…

  • You don’t have to like your kids

    “Learning to dislike children at an early age saves a lot of expense and aggravation later in life.” (Robert Byrne)   The quote above is obviously sarcastic, but sarcasm is funny because it hints at the truth—sometimes it’s almost impossible to like our kids. We always love them, but that doesn’t me we always like […]