Last month I had the chance to visit Iraq and Lebanon with World Vision to see the work they are doing with families living in refugee camps. I’ve seen footage of the violence and destruction that ISIS has wreaked on families in Iraq and Syria and I think that their stories desperately need to be told. It’s easy to turn a blind eye to what is happening to both the Iraqi and Syrian people because it’s happening so far away. It’s also so incredibly painful that I think it’s hard to . . .

Chatting with my Republican friend Paul E. Martin about trumps response to Puerto Rico, the tragedy in Las Vegas, gun control, and California’s new “sanctuary state” decision. . . .

How do you stay sane when the world seems broken? In this week's episode of Selfie we talk with grief therapist Claire Bidwell-Smith about collective trauma after national tragedies, and with activist Micky Jones about the intersection of activism and self-care. We also explore the balance between caring for yourself and the world around you, and how action and community can be forms of self-care. Listen here. Special thanks to Claire Bidwell-Smith, author of The Rules of . . .

This post was sponsored by   VSP® Vision Care I've talked a lot about how self-care is elusive to me . . . how I struggle with taking the time to take care of my own needs. It seems like I'm always juggling the needs of others, while putting myself on the back burner. The old "put the oxygen mask on yourself before putting it on your children" analogy? I'm failing at that. One of the areas I've always struggled with, in terms of self-care, is my health. I put off going to the doctor. . . .