In the book Shrink Yourself, Dr. Gould tells this Native American folk tale:

A grandfather explains to his grandson that he has two wolves inside
him. One wolf fills him with hope and reminds him how wonderful
his life is, and the other fills him with doubt and convinces him that
nothing is worth the effort. The grandson asks, concerned for his
grandfather, "which wolf will win?" The grandfather replies "Whichever
one I feed."

I use this in groups at work and always get surprising answers. Because of their depression most of my patients if not all admit to having a much larger negative wolf than a positive one. Often times they feel the negative wolf is all consuming. One of my patients this weekend who is profoundly depressed stated, "my positive wolf isn't even hungry." The point of the group is to help my patients find ways to feed their positive wolf.

We were lucky growing up. Our parents taught us everyday how to feed our positive wolves with things as simple as sunsets. Judy and I began cooking as soon as we could reach the kitchen counter top. Maybe even before that standing on a chair. Mother hated the mess but she never made us stop. Both Mom and Dad supported and encouraged our creative efforts even if they didn't last long. (I am thinking the guitar lessons here.)

I feed my positive wolf by being creative: writing, photography, cooking. I feed my negative wolf by not doing these things. I also feed my positive wolf when I am connecting with others. When I remain isolated my negative wolf gets much stronger. So my positive wolf wants to thank all of you who are sharing in this blogging experience whether you are just reading or writing as well. I have also begun a writer's group and I can feel my positive wolf get stronger everyday.

Oh yes, Women of Great Taste. Last week I made Farfalle with Wild Mushroom Sauce. The recipe calls for button mushrooms and wild mushrooms. I used shitake which turned out very rubbery but the rest of the dish was quite good with white wine (I used sherry because that is what I had) fresh tarragon, green onions. The fun part was the creme fratche. I could have used sour cream but decided to try making some creme fratche. Two tablespoons buttermilk in 1 cup of heavy whipping cream. Cover and leave it out at room temperature 12 to 24 hours and then stir and refrigerate for up to 10 days. The cream becomes very thick and tastes pretty much like sour cream. Kind of cool. You stir 1/2 cup into the sauce at the end. I made buttermilk pancakes yesterday to use some of the left over buttermilk and now I have to find a use for the remaining creme fratche.