Part Of My Life Research Articles

Leaving, Again.

This short reflection with a photo is based on an emotional moment I had during my last visit to Kuwait, where I was born a third-generation stateless person, and later emigrated from to Canada, where I currently reside. It is an expression of the emotional and social manifestations of living between two countries and experiencing the loss of time with family and friends. It is an expression of the yearning for social connections that I left behind. It is also an attempt to reconcile with the experiences of forced migration and distance, which are not always successful. I used to visit Kuwait annually, but when COVID-19 hit, it interrupted these frequent visits. Up until recently, I had not visited in four years. But I stayed connected with my family and friends virtually, though WhatsApp, Instagram, Twitter, Zoom. When I finally went this winter, I was filled with overwhelming emotions. It had been too long, and I felt as though things have changed. But it was really me who has. Being away for such a long time has created a gap that I am still trying to understand. I was never troubled by distance. In fact, I loved it because it gave me the space to learn more about myself and explore the world. I thought I was okay with the distance for the longest time. But I learned how much I was craving the warmth of close connections, the in-person quality time, the long night chats, the morning coffees, the brunches by the beach, and the hugs I received from loved ones. I leaned that this distance meant missing out on making memories with loved ones. And losing so much time that can never be regained. I realized that when I was glued to my phone every day for hours, it was because I wanted to stay connected, and not be forgotten because distance can do that. I have already felt so many friendships fade away because of the distance, and now I find myself trying to hold on to those I have left. Yes, I made new ones virtually. And I had the chance to meet them in person this time. And it was beautiful. But now, I am leaving, again. I am more now of how this distance impacts me, and my relations. This time, I was very sad to leave. I wasn’t ready to leave just yet. I did not get enough time to be with my loved ones. It was a month, but it felt so short. I tried to squeeze all the meetings, squeeze all the love I craved, but it was so much love that just didn’t fit in such a short time. I had to leave eventually, again, with a big part of my heart left behind. A big part of my life away from me. And no matter what I do to stay connected, it’s not the same. I realized now, no matter what I choose, where I choose to live, I cannot have it all. And that I will always be giving up something. Oh the luxury to have it all…

"A part of my life". A qualitative study about perceptions of female genital mutilation and experiences of healthcare among affected women residing in Sweden.

Female genital mutilation (FGM) is defined as all procedures involving partial or total removal of the external female genitalia, or other injuries to them for non-medical reasons. Due to migration, healthcare providers in high-income countries need to better understand the consequences of FGM. The aim of this study was to elucidate women's experiences of FGM, with particular focus on perceived health consequences and experiences of healthcare received in Sweden. A qualitative study was performed through face-to-face, semi-structured interviews with eight women who had experienced FGM in childhood, prior to immigration to Sweden. The transcribed narratives were analyzed using content analysis. Three main categories were identified : "Living with FGM", "Living with lifelong health consequences" and "Encounters with healthcare providers". The participants highlighted the motives behind FGM and their mothers' ambivalence in the decision process. Although the majority of participants had undergone FGM type 3, the most severe type of FGM, the lifelong health consequences were diverse. Poor knowledge about FGM, insulting attitude, and lack of sensitive care were experienced when seeking healthcare in Sweden. Our findings indicate that FGM is a complex matter causing a diversity in perceived health consequences in women affected. Increased knowledge and awareness about FGM among healthcare providers in Sweden is of utmost importance. Further, this subject needs to be addressed in the healthcare encounter in a professional way.

‘It's mostly an accompaniment to something’

‘It's mostly an accompaniment to something’

“There Is No Part of My Life That Hasn’t Been Destroyed”: The Impact of Parental Alienation and Intimate Partner Violence on Fathers

Previous research has demonstrated the profound negative impact of both intimate partner violence (IPV) and parental alienation (PA) on both the mental and physical health of fathers. However, considering the increasing arguments for PA to be categorized and examined as a form of IPV, there is an urgent need to explore the impact of PA as part of a broader pattern of IPV. This is a particularly relevant line of inquiry for fathers as men are largely invisibilized in research examining IPV. The present study analyzed qualitative responses to an online survey by 171 fathers who have experienced alienating behaviors within the context of IPV. Three themes were identified: impact on fathers (including health, finances, grief, identity, and relationships), perceived impact on children (including siblings and extended family, health and well-being, and loss of childhood), and impact on relationships with children (including lack of closeness, feeling responsible, and improvements over time). The impacts described by men are discussed in relation to the theoretical and practical relationship between IPV and PA, and the implications for support and help-seeking for men experiencing this form of abuse.

"The Box Has Become an Indispensable Part of My Life": A Case Study of Victoria Cannabis Buyers Club and its Consumption Space.

Community-based models of cannabis cultivation, distribution, and consumption-such as cannabis clubs-have been documented across Europe, North America, South America, and New Zealand since the 1990s. For the most part, these models have a history of operating outside existing legislation and regulations. Jurisdictions that have legalized cannabis have approached community-based models in opposite ways (eliminate vs. regulate). Canada legalizing cannabis has resulted in more stringent enforcement and concerted efforts to close these models despite documented health and social benefits. This paper presents a case study of the Victoria Cannabis Buyers Club (VCBC) and its consumption space-The Box. We conducted a survey of VCBC members to explore four domains: demographics, cannabis consumption, access to and use of The Box, and the impact of its temporary closure due to COVID-19. From the survey data (n = 104), descriptive statistics were generated and three conceptual avenues were identified. The majority of respondents were 40 years old and older and identified as White (European descent) cisgendered men and women. The majority reported an income of $40,000 or less and a housing status that prevented them from smoking. Close to 75% of our sample consumed cannabis multidaily for therapeutic purposes primarily, but also for a mix of recreation, social, spiritual, and traditional healing purposes. Smoking was the preferred mode of consumption. Respondents accessed The Box daily or weekly. Reasons and benefits for using The Box fell into three categories: public health, harm reduction, and wellness perspectives. Conceptually, we found that The Box acted as a therapeutic space and offered a much-needed consumption space for smokers. We also identified a need to unpack the concept of safety. Overall, the survey reinforces the need for an equity-informed approach to community-based models and cannabis consumption spaces in Canada.

Walking My Path Together with W. W. Phelps

Walking My Path Together with W. W. Phelps

“I don’t even recognize myself anymore”: An autoethnography of workplace bullying in higher education

The purpose of this autoethnography was to contextualize a personal workplace bullying experience in higher education with the intention to promote action and change within higher education policy and practice. The research questions that guided this study were: How do I tell the story of my experience with workplace bullying in higher education? What are the personal and social impacts of my experience with workplace bullying? What strategies did I use to persevere through the workplace bullying experience? Bullying and incivility in higher education contexts persists despite having knowledge of the negative implications and desire of institutions for change. Three themes emerged in this autoethnography: (1) I don’t even recognize myself anymore; (2) Reliving past trauma: I thought that part of my life was over; and (3) Coping and Survivor’s Guilt. This autoethnography adds to the body of literature surrounding bullying and incivility in the workplace; offers examples of how workplace bullying and incivility impacted a victim’s professional and personal life, along with the victim’s psychological and physical well-being; and facilitates critical reflection on this experience in order to generate innovative methods to address the prevalence and minimize the impacts of similar experiences in the higher education environments.

Career Aspirations for People With Serious Mental Disorders.

Career Aspirations for People With Serious Mental Disorders.

APA Foundation’s Executive Director Honored With Presidential Award

Back to table of contents Previous article Next article APA & MeetingsFull AccessAPA Foundation’s Executive Director Honored With Presidential AwardSearch for more papers by this authorPublished Online:27 Jan 2023https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.pn.2023.02.2.37AbstractRawle Andrews Jr., Esq.Rawle Andrews Jr., Esq., executive director of the APA Foundation, was presented the President Joseph R. Biden Jr. Lifetime Achievement Award for Volunteer Service in a Washington, D.C., ceremony in January.The award is presented on behalf of Points of Light, AmeriCorps, President Biden, and Vice President Kamala Harris to individuals across the country whose service positively impacts their home communities and inspires others around them to take positive action as well. A minimum of 4,000 hours of volunteer service is required to be eligible for the award.“It is an honor to be counted among the trailblazers and pioneers who have been selected to receive this award,” said Andrews. “The greatest reward of doing good is always seeing its positive impact on the lives of others in the community—together we truly lift one another up. That is why service is, and will remain, a huge part of my life and our work across the APA family.”“It is wonderful to see Rawle Andrews recognized for his long record of service, which we’ve seen shine through in many ways since he joined the Foundation,” said Saul Levin, M.D., M.P.A., APA’s CEO and medical director. “We congratulate him for this honor and for what he achieves through the Foundation for mental health.” ■ ISSUES NewArchived

Diane M. Nelson (1963–2022)

Diane M. Nelson (1963–2022)

The Undertaking

The Undertaking Ellen Rogers (bio) When J began a side job as an undertaker at a funeral home, our partnership was ending—a death of a different sort. J was mainly a sword swallower. He performed in nouveau cirque shows along the West Coast. Even though he had traveled with tents big enough to hold hundreds of awe-struck showgoers across the country, neither of us ever had much money. He took on extra jobs to fill some of the gaps, most of them a little dangerous; prior to becoming an undertaker he worked as an arborist and an electrician. It was as if he wanted to confront death in all the work he chose. Before I knew him, early on in his career, J was rushed to the emergency room after nicking his epiglottis with his sword during a show—blood on the tip of his blade. He could have died. In the first months we dated, I could barely watch any time he performed. But soon the act felt normal, like breathing. To some, the circus might seem like fun and games, just a distraction from real life. But each act looks life and death right in the face: the drop from an aerial rig, the slice of a sword in the throat. It’s risky business. Performers swallow death, then bow. Fatality is always possible amidst impossible feats. Each show shows us all that death will cull and how it could. Then the glorious circus ends, and the train leaves town. [End Page 57] I was awed by these lessons even as I struggled with them. Since J and I broke up, my struggles with these lessons have not gone away. Though I don’t long to resurrect our relationship, this part of my life, even years later, haunts me—the daring I felt I never quite picked up, the wildness I later ceded to comfort, the sense of misdirection in my own life that didn’t end when we did. ________ I first met J at a music festival, not far from the Nooksack River’s teal waters, at the height of blackberry season when the Pacific Northwest teems with sunlight and no one wants to be inside. Even the way he walked was playful. His allure was his rare freedom. We got together and stayed partners for years. J made a point of meeting everyone. He shook any stranger’s hand, then spun his signature black felt bowler hat upside down on his finger and tossed it via triple-flip back onto his head—a little magic for the shuffling grocery store line or someone’s morning commute. For a person who risked his life with each performance, he was jovial and warm, nothing grim about him. I will always admire this, though sometimes I felt drab in comparison back then, forgettable except for the fact that I stood next to him. At my worst, I used to wonder if our partnership was to blame, as if his personality overshadowed mine. Our circus friends were brave and playful and crafty. I admired them too, even though I often felt awkward around them, not cut out for the bold life they led. People use the phrase “when pigs fly” to mean something will never happen. But when a friend wore a pig suit for a comedy burlesque act set to “Harlem Nocturne,” J and the crew figured out how to hoist her through dancing clouds on stage. Every day, what I didn’t think could happen happened. Whatever they dreamed, they did. Rose-petal confetti. A swordfish sword to swallow, a bouquet to swallow, a glowing neon sword to swallow that lit J from within. A tour down the Willamette River on a homemade boat that doubled as a floating stage. Impossibility flew above our heads, then stuck its landing. [End Page 58] The weekend before I broke up with J, we decorated his small circus tent as if for a funeral, his chosen theme for that night’s show. He borrowed a casket from work. We made bouquets of dead branches and dried flowers. We strung fraying fabric strips into white webs overhead and hauled...

Interventions: An Interview with Christopher Sorrentino

InterventionsAn Interview with Christopher Sorrentino Frederick Luis Aldama Reading Christopher Sorrentino, I can't help but think of John Barth's still poignant yet decades-old observation about the "used-upness" of literature—all while championing the vital spark of those like Borges and García Márquez. I put Sorrentino squarely in the latter's camp. His work innovates, without wearing innovation on its sleeve. He inventively shapes new storytelling designs, all while keeping us grounded in tellurian matters of mind, body, and heart. He replenishes our planetary republic of letters. From his first novel, Sound on Sound (1995), which is narratively shaped as a multitrack recording session, to his claustrophobically close-up view of a fictionalized Patty Hearst in Trance (2005), to his kaleidoscopic kinesis of consciousness in Now Beacon, Now Sea (2021), Sorrentino refuses to slip into repetition or formula. He is serious about the craft. He's also an author who, like Cervantes, Laurence Sterne, Flann O'Brien, and Katherine Dunn (a few that come readily to mind), has fun—and gives us permission to have fun. We see this most visibly in the coauthored (with Jonathan Lethem) Believeniks! 2005: The Year We Wrote a Book about the Mets (2006), where the Quixote/Sancho protagonist pair, Ivan Felt and Harris Conklin, also appear on the book's jacket cover as the novel's authors; and in The Fugitives (2015) he does with the crime thriller what Cervantes did with the chivalric romance, transforming formula (genre) into transformative art. Sorrentino's creative range is broad; he coauthored (with Brit Pop artist Derek Boshier) American Tempura (2007), a magisterial study that weaves the personal with the sociopolitical; his lively Death Wish: A Novel Approach (2010); as well as exquisitely rendered, deeply probing shorter work appearing in the New York Times, Esquire, Harper's, the Paris Review, Granta, and McSweeney's, among others. His journey also includes teaching at prestigious universities, such as the New School and Columbia, and holding a visiting writer position at Fairleigh Dickinson University. His accolades are numerous, including Guggenheim and Lannan fellowships, and was a finalist [End Page 68] for the National Book Award for Fiction and long-listed for the International Dublin Literary Award. He is a member of the Unterberg Poetry Center of the 92nd Street Y. I had the great pleasure of talking with Christopher Sorrentino about his life and work. frederick luis aldama: In 2006, your father, Gil Sorrentino, died—a beloved professor of mine at Stanford. In 2017, your mother, Victoria Ortiz, died. You chose to write with great sensitivity and nuance about Victoria's death in Now Beacon, Now Sea, capturing beautifully and candidly the idiosyncratic ways we experience the death of loved ones. christopher sorrentino: Parents are the big ones for most of us. When my father died, I felt mainly relief. He'd been dying for eight months, and I did most of my grieving while he was fading. When he was gone, I felt an enormous weight lifted. My mother's death was different. It was sudden, and shocking. Given her genes, I figured she'd keep going for another ten years. But I think her will to live abandoned her. As I relate in Now Beacon, I think she found her situation intolerable, and I couldn't really help her. With her death, I quickly and intensely felt anger, regret, and guilt. fla: You not only explore your conflicted relationship with your mother but also her identity as a Latina of Puerto Rican descent. cs: My mother's sense of her identity was complex, and she mostly kept it to herself. I think she was ambivalent about it, proud but also convinced that it was something it was best not to advertise. She certainly didn't try to keep me from my grandparents, or the rest of our family living in the Bronx. They were a big part of my life, and I visited with them regularly. On the other hand, she conditioned me to accept myself as a white, or white passing, person. It was an extension of her own aspirations, and in fact those of her parents, who fully embraced an...

Becoming Italian

Becoming Italian

Time in the Time of COVID

Time in the Time of COVID

Missing and Restoring Meaning

Missing and Restoring Meaning

여행을 많이 할수록 사람들은 더 행복감을 느낄까?

This study aimed to examine the effects of travel experiences such as the frequency of travel, travel duration, travel values, and travel satisfaction on subjective happiness among Koreans. A cross-sectional online survey was conducted. A total of 450 samples were utilized for the descriptive statistics analysis, correlation analysis, and regression analysis. The significant empirical findings are as follows. First, some of the travel values (i.e., travel is part of my life, travel can strengthen my relationship with a companion) and travel satisfaction have significantly influenced subjective happiness. Second, the frequency of leisure travel was a significant factor in enhancing subjective happiness. The results suggest that the perceived value and general travel satisfaction, as well as travel frequency, play an essential role in increasing personal happiness. The implications and suggestions for further research are discussed in this paper from the findings.

A grounded theory study exploring change processes following cognitive behavioural therapy for distressing voices

ABSTRACT Background Cognitive Behavioural Therapy for voice hearing (CBTv) has been shown to be effective at reducing distress. However, it is unclear why voice hearers might deteriorate or continue to benefit post-intervention. This study aimed to explore therapeutic change processes following CBTv. Methods A critical realist, grounded theory methodology was utilised. Individual interviews were conducted with 12 participants who had experienced distressing voice hearing and had completed a CBTv intervention in the last 3–12 months. Participants were recruited from a specialist hearing voices service. Results Three categories were found to be facilitative of positive change within CBTv: “New Ways of Managing”, “Overcoming Challenges” and “Gaining New Perspectives”. Five categories denoted the maintenance or furthering of positive change following intervention: “Having a Sense of Control”, “Standing on My Own Two Feet”, “Voices Are Just Part of My Life”, “Investing in Sustaining Relationships”, and “Rediscovering and Developing Identity”. Challenging circumstances faced by participants are also incorporated into a model for maintaining change following CBTv. Discussion The model adds to current literature on change processes occurring within and after CBTv. The results support the need for those working with voice hearers post-therapy to focus on rebuilding social relationships, meaning making and identity.

Functional Proteomics Driven by Chemical and Computational Approaches

Comprehensive SummaryFunctional proteomics is a powerful approach to globally investigate protein functions and their biological significance. Activity‐based protein profiling (ABPP) has been widely applied to explore the activity and ligandability of proteins in complex biological systems. Herein, we summarized our efforts in developing chemical probes and chemical proteomic pipelines to identify protein targets of certain post‐translational modifications (PTMs), covalent drugs, natural products and cellular metabolites. Furthermore, computer‐aided proteomic strategies were developed to globally identify functional residues including hyper‐reactive cysteines, active sites of selenoproteins and proximal anchors for protein activation. How do you get into this specific field? Could you please share some experiences with our readers?When I finished my Ph.D. in computational structure biology, I was attracted to chemical biology as it is a highly interdisciplinary field. I was fascinated by how chemical probes can capture and reveal important functions of proteins, particularly in complexed biological settings.How do you supervise your students?I tend to let my students explore freely on research subjects they are interested in as long as the topics fit in the scope of functional proteomics. I enjoy the experience of working with them instead of supervising them.What is the most important personality for scientific research?In my opinion, the most important personality for scientific research is perseverance, passion and logical thinking.How do you keep balance between research and family?Research and family should not conflict with each other and they are both inseparable parts of my life. Practically, I just leave enough family time on my schedule so that they are not interfered by my research works.What are your hobbies?My hobbies are watching soccer games and sitcoms. I used to play soccer quite a lot but sadly my knees do not allow it any more. My favorite soccer club is AC Milan and my favorite sitcom is Friends.Could you please give us some advices on improving Chinese Journal of Chemistry?Stay diversified, in terms of both research subjects published as well as career stages of contributing authors.

Three Perspectives on the Passing of Larry Klein

Three Perspectives on the Passing of Larry Klein

A note from the new editor-in-chief

It is an honor to be chosen as the new editor-in-chief of the Journal of Urban Affairs. The JUA and its society, the Urban Affairs Association, are an integral part of my life as an urban scholar. ...