Category: Self Examination

Looking beneath the surface to understand why we do what we do

Vote Only the Issues? by Art Smukler, MD, author & psychiatrist

by artsmuklermd, posted in Politics, Self Examination, World events, a psychological view

I know a number of doctors and businessmen who are voting for Trump because he supports Israel & lowering taxes for the rich (how many billions do you really need?).

This CONVICTED felon and rapist supports an autocracy. He’ll be in charge like Putin and Kim Jong Un. Evangelists will never have to vote again! he exclaimed while pumping his fist in the air like Hitler.

Is there an advantage to an autocracy? Yes. It’s more efficient. No checks and balances. Do it my way or put on an orange jumpsuit. Maybe he’ll decree that we all have to wear baggy blue suits? Millions of mini-Trumps walking the streets in outfits supplied by the UST (United States of Trump).

Support democracy. Support Kamala. She’s brilliant and cares about us.

Thanks, Art

#MAGA, #Democracy, #anti-trump, #Go kamala

Inside The Mind Of A Psychiatrist – A Reading Club, by Art Smukler, MD

by artsmuklermd, posted in MY NOVELS, Psychiatry, Self Examination, Writing

A great piece in The Sunday LA Times, front page, column one, caught my eye. Shhh. The Silver Lake Reading Club. Every Tuesday from 6 pm till 8:30 pm at Lamill Coffee, a few dozen people pay $17 for the pleasure of sitting quietly and reading. Helen Bui, the reading club’s founder, and daughter of Vietnamese refugees, supplies pastries, coffee and tea to the lucky readers. 

You bring your own book and get a chance to enter the author’s world without any distractions other than sometimes hearing a page turn. There’s a 15 minute break to get a chance to share. 

Who would have thought that our world has become so chaotic that people would flock to a place where silence prevails and fantasy reigns?

As a pre-teen I hung out at a nearby library in Philadelphia and obsessively perused the stacks looking for my next reading adventure. My obsession to read continues – untreatable and an integral part of my life. When was the last time I didn’t have a book to read? Never.

I’m rereading Tom Wolfe’s, A Man In Full. It’s still engaging, riveting, and so well written, even after 25 years.

Have a good read, Art

#readingclub, #silverlake, #Tomwolfe, #amaninfull, #insidethemindofapsychiatrist, #psychologicalsuspensenovels,