Your writing was well worth a kidney. Not only was this piece written beautifully, but it also read like a piece of psychoanalytic poetry. You so clearly articulated the need to find our true selves and take care of them. Your genius is that you put such complicated concepts into an enjoyable, easy-to-read book. As I was reading your paper, I remembered an analytic conference I attended about 23 years ago. The speaker was James Grotstein, a famous analyst in Los Angeles. I spent two hours listening and didn't understand a thing. It was psychoanalytic. It was so bad that it was not helpful. You're also doing an excellent job building your Substack community. I plan to become a paid subscriber. Thank you so much for an interesting read.
We only have 2 kidneys and while we can function with one, I dare say I don't always get enough hydration as I should to begin with! So maybe on second thought, I should take yours! lol
Yes, I've read a bit of Bion and Klein, whom he is famous for writing about and extending some of their work, which I love but good lord are they dense. I particularly love Bion but yes to get through all the jargon and then figure out how to apply it to people who come to see me - to say things to them without the jargon so they understand what I'm saying and can use it to some degree in their everyday life if you will is more important to me than the theoretical jargon.
But I do love me some theory and I like the rhythm of certain poets. So maybe that is what is happening in my writing. Who knows though right! I just love to read + write on occasion. Thus, you've given me one of the highest complements, on two fronts, I can think of. So thank you Dr Chambre I look forward to continuing to "learn" from each other in a little closer proximity!
I'm so new at the paid tier - working on it! - you get to DM along the way as part of your subscription and ask for things. (I suspect I won't be able to offer this so much down the road.) At any rate, music to my ears! Welcome aboard and I'm open to care and love(ing) suggestions along the way as well.
I am new to your Substack, and found you through Stephanie Raffelock's recommendation.
Your insightful, perceptive points -- all beautifully written -- hold true. You say, for example, "Growth and maturation aren’t about solely following someone else’s formula; they’re about discovering what truly sustains us and integrating it into our daily lives." So true.
After many years of not thinking about what fuels me emotionally, physically, and spiritually, I have a blueprint for what does fuel me. And it is art and writing. For me, these are integral to self-care.
I am a breast cancer survivor who found herself physically and emotionally empty once treatment ended. I exited a toxic marriage and fell in love again -- this time with art, specifically oil painting. During such difficult societal times, art has kept me steady and has been so therapeutic. It has truly been my salvation.
When I am creating, outside problems and distractions don't exist: worry and unease are replaced by flow.
Thank you for your wonderful insights. I loved reading this piece.
Thank you! and my sincere apology for not seeing this sooner. Tell Stephanie I said thank you! She is wonderful right.
I want to mention I love this! "I exited a toxic marriage and fell in love again -- this time with art, specifically oil painting." To be able to understand the importance of what you just relayed in life is, in my opinion, one of the most imporant things we can ever learn in life. How to move away from what ails us, to the degree we can, and towards what is life sustaining in healthy and enjoyable ways. Thus, to bring mind, body, spirit together in life is no easy task, absolutely herculean at times.
To get into the flow state, amidst lifes' ongoing struggles, you certainly have captured my attention Beth.
I very much look forward to our paths crossing again! How goes the poetry?
No problem at all; I will relay your message to Stephanie.
Thank you for your kind comment. I agree that getting the mind, body, and spirit to be healthy and working together is difficult. Of course, life throws those curveballs, but the key is to keep that balance as well as we can.
I appreciate your asking about my poetry project. I'm almost done writing all the poems. I just have to revise the weaker ones and then pitch it to a publisher. This project has been a long time in the making -- life having that habit of getting in the way.
A couple of these poems have been published in Wildfire Journal, a literary and art journal that publishes work from those who were diagnosed with breast cancer at a younger age.
I'm keeping my fingers crossed on this project. :)
I look forward to reading more of your essays, so yes, our paths will cross again!
The fingerprint illustration you chose reminds me of the "wheel of life" exercise, which I certainly did not invent, but have shared my own version of here—definitely a variation on a personal "wellbeing equation" ⬇️
More to the point of your emphasis on "Designing Your Own Path Forward," Absolutely! We all need our own philosophy–not invented from scratch, but built up from life experience, reading, and collective wisdom to form "an equation that reflects who we are" as you put it ⬇️
Thank you Bowen! 😊 I truly appreciate your kind words. I love the connection you make to the wheel of life exercise as a tool for self-reflection and I appreciate you sharing your version—it’s quite something! It’s fascinating how these mental frameworks whether a wheel, a wellbeing equation or another lived-out metaphor all point to a similar truth that our well-being is dynamic, deeply personal and ever evolving.
And I couldn’t agree more on the point that our philosophy of life isn’t something we invent out of thin air but rather something we grapple with and refine over time (or at least we should, in my opinion if we want to be more than a mindless repetition of what came before us). Meaning, it sould be shaped and reshaped by our experiences, introspection and the wisdom we gather along the way. Looking forward to reading your pieces. Thank you for sharing!
Bronce, my friend, this was nothing short of brilliant. I especially appreciated how you unpack the invisible influence of early conditioning with such compassion and clarity. It’s a gentle but powerful call to reclaim authorship over our lives. Your work is a true gift!
Thank you Sara :) It has taken me a long time to be able to put these thoughts out in as clear a fashion as I am able to. One worries, at times, that maybe you won't hit the mark and you'll miss too far afield. I rather like how you put it "to reclaim authorship". I think that is exactly what many of us are trying to do but don't quite know how on a consistent basis.
Thank you William! I appreciate you saying this and highlighting this part of life, so to speak. I’m not fond of cookie-cutter answers in life. They can be helpful but they don’t replace what you mention: self-reflection + understanding.
Yes, there is a truth to what you say. While I believe there are certain tenets or rules to healthy living backed by science that apply to everyone, still everyone is different and certain rules will need to be experimented with.
I do call this experiments in living and one has to take up one's life honestly and check out what works and what doesn't. The whole free will aspect and all.
The confrence or going through the Guided Journal came out good except for one small thing. It is really embarassing after working almost 30 years in studio city where the studios are. I am definatly not a cinematographer. i lost the digital. I think i am going to do it again. The live was Discover the Art of Journaling to find your authentic self. I think Almost Dr, Chambre is going to do it again with pdf journals people can write. Its also for sale on Amazon. Thank you for asking
I love the notion that our blueprint is as unique as a fingerprint—and that we have the ability to craft and personalize it for ourselves in a way that suits us. An important message in the era of biohack bros and incessant messaging that “this is the one true way to healing.” If we pause, get quiet, really listen, we find that the answers have been gently tapping us on the shoulder all along.
ACP! Thank you :) Yes, no more let's get moving towards optimizing what's the best single method for the company at the expense of idividualized needs. Our health and wellness are not bread out of machines and neither should we train ourselves to think we should be one.
This is insightful Dr. Bronce and it does a comprehensive breakdown of what we briefly discussed the other day.
Self-help material can be valuable, but the way we engage with it is misguided.
We treat these resources like instruction manuals, assuming that strict adherence to their steps will resolve whatever afflicts us. This approach is flawed because it assumes we are all running on the same internal “software.” While we may share the same human machinery, the programming beneath—the psychological, emotional, and experiential layers—is unique to each of us. Manuals written for one type of software will inevitably fail another.
Instead, self-help should be seen as a set of tools, ways to look under the hood and begin working through our challenges in ways that align with our personal wiring. The issue is that most self-help content isn’t built with this in mind. It’s often commodified, repackaged as a product promising transformation, while failing to account for the complexity of individual experience.
In truth, the wisdom needed to confront our dysfunctions often already exists within us. And more often we are afraid to face this truth and thus resort to external fixes which is just a form of escapism.
What we require are not prescriptions, but the right tools and guidance to help us access it.
Soul Quill - Thank you for taking the time to read my article and, by your analogy, looking below the hood of what I'm laying down. To tie the world of self-help to the complexity of individual experience and escapism made me smile. You have nailed it. It's why I need an agent, editor and publisher who have a soul.
I hope our paths continue to cross on the scenic Substack byways. Thank you for showin up!
Your writing was well worth the price of a kidney. Not only can you write, but you can also give your readers a psychoanalytic poetry. This piece was written so artfully and easily to read, and it's filled with many ways we have avoided taking care of ourselves. As I was reading your article, I was reminded of a conference
This was such a thoughtful and grounding reminder that well-being isn't one-size-fits-all. Thank you for emphasizing self-trust over comparison—it really lands.
I really appreciate you weighing in, Anton—especially given the depth of work you do helping others navigate their own journeys through doubt and into self-trust. Your voice carries the weight of lived experience and, for me, that always resonates more deeply.
However, everyone understands and knows well that not only your well-being equation but its opposite equation also is as unique as your fingerprint. So it's not a surprise. It's more important to know and understand why you're as unique as your fingerprint. It's equally important to know and understand the factors that give birth to you with such uniqueness.
Yoga discipline - Thank you for your thoughtful response. You're absolutely right both our well-being and our suffering are as unique as fingerprints. The real puzzle is why we’re so unique and how that uniqueness is shaped.
I believe the answer lives at the intersection of nature and nurture in that our biology is interwoven with early relationships, experiences and cultural conditioning. These factors quietly sculpt our emotional patterns, coping mechanisms and eventual sense of our self.
But perhaps the deeper question is not just how we’re shaped but whether and when we begin to wake up to it. That’s the true beginning of our transformation in recognizing the architecture behind our behaviors and beliefs and then consciously choosing which parts still serve us.
So maybe the “solution” isn’t a fixed answer more a lifelong inquiry and willingness to explore the roots of our becoming and through that awareness create new possibilities. I’d be curious to hear how you explore this through the lens of yoga and disciplined self-awareness.
"Designing a life that supports your well-being is more art than science" - I flipped on this one. Truly great article, Dr. Rice. I shall reread it again.
Toni - Thank you, I'm glad you liked it. Feel free to throw out additional thoughts if/when you reread it. I have a few other posts in line with this article as well. Oh and please call me Bronce.
"Unlike animals that instinctively know how to thrive, we humans must consciously design our lives—over time—to support our health and wellness." > I love this and it's not even only our health and wellness, but literally our entire life that we should design more
Claudia - Bingo! You nailed it. Our entire life should be designed more but as I mention in another piece try designing other important areas of your life when you haven't designed your health and wellness first.
What a brilliant article Dr Brounce Rice ! You are phenomenal when it came to deliver something very insightful, yes our wellness equation should be our own it should not be the equation set for us by society , or any other person around us !! Your work is really an amazing work thank you for for sharing 🙏
Anket - Thank you for the kind words :) and taking the time to read my piece and digest it. I do think it hightlights a fair bit of what we are up against via the human condition and human nature and the difficulties of finding our own ways in life. We all rub off on one another as we should but this can make things a bit of a struggle depending on what exactly is rubbing off. Thank you again I rather appreciate it.
Your writing was well worth a kidney. Not only was this piece written beautifully, but it also read like a piece of psychoanalytic poetry. You so clearly articulated the need to find our true selves and take care of them. Your genius is that you put such complicated concepts into an enjoyable, easy-to-read book. As I was reading your paper, I remembered an analytic conference I attended about 23 years ago. The speaker was James Grotstein, a famous analyst in Los Angeles. I spent two hours listening and didn't understand a thing. It was psychoanalytic. It was so bad that it was not helpful. You're also doing an excellent job building your Substack community. I plan to become a paid subscriber. Thank you so much for an interesting read.
We only have 2 kidneys and while we can function with one, I dare say I don't always get enough hydration as I should to begin with! So maybe on second thought, I should take yours! lol
Yes, I've read a bit of Bion and Klein, whom he is famous for writing about and extending some of their work, which I love but good lord are they dense. I particularly love Bion but yes to get through all the jargon and then figure out how to apply it to people who come to see me - to say things to them without the jargon so they understand what I'm saying and can use it to some degree in their everyday life if you will is more important to me than the theoretical jargon.
But I do love me some theory and I like the rhythm of certain poets. So maybe that is what is happening in my writing. Who knows though right! I just love to read + write on occasion. Thus, you've given me one of the highest complements, on two fronts, I can think of. So thank you Dr Chambre I look forward to continuing to "learn" from each other in a little closer proximity!
I'm so new at the paid tier - working on it! - you get to DM along the way as part of your subscription and ask for things. (I suspect I won't be able to offer this so much down the road.) At any rate, music to my ears! Welcome aboard and I'm open to care and love(ing) suggestions along the way as well.
Hi Bronce,
I am new to your Substack, and found you through Stephanie Raffelock's recommendation.
Your insightful, perceptive points -- all beautifully written -- hold true. You say, for example, "Growth and maturation aren’t about solely following someone else’s formula; they’re about discovering what truly sustains us and integrating it into our daily lives." So true.
After many years of not thinking about what fuels me emotionally, physically, and spiritually, I have a blueprint for what does fuel me. And it is art and writing. For me, these are integral to self-care.
I am a breast cancer survivor who found herself physically and emotionally empty once treatment ended. I exited a toxic marriage and fell in love again -- this time with art, specifically oil painting. During such difficult societal times, art has kept me steady and has been so therapeutic. It has truly been my salvation.
When I am creating, outside problems and distractions don't exist: worry and unease are replaced by flow.
Thank you for your wonderful insights. I loved reading this piece.
Hi Beth! :)
Thank you! and my sincere apology for not seeing this sooner. Tell Stephanie I said thank you! She is wonderful right.
I want to mention I love this! "I exited a toxic marriage and fell in love again -- this time with art, specifically oil painting." To be able to understand the importance of what you just relayed in life is, in my opinion, one of the most imporant things we can ever learn in life. How to move away from what ails us, to the degree we can, and towards what is life sustaining in healthy and enjoyable ways. Thus, to bring mind, body, spirit together in life is no easy task, absolutely herculean at times.
To get into the flow state, amidst lifes' ongoing struggles, you certainly have captured my attention Beth.
I very much look forward to our paths crossing again! How goes the poetry?
Hi Bronce,
No problem at all; I will relay your message to Stephanie.
Thank you for your kind comment. I agree that getting the mind, body, and spirit to be healthy and working together is difficult. Of course, life throws those curveballs, but the key is to keep that balance as well as we can.
I appreciate your asking about my poetry project. I'm almost done writing all the poems. I just have to revise the weaker ones and then pitch it to a publisher. This project has been a long time in the making -- life having that habit of getting in the way.
A couple of these poems have been published in Wildfire Journal, a literary and art journal that publishes work from those who were diagnosed with breast cancer at a younger age.
I'm keeping my fingers crossed on this project. :)
I look forward to reading more of your essays, so yes, our paths will cross again!
Great piece!
The fingerprint illustration you chose reminds me of the "wheel of life" exercise, which I certainly did not invent, but have shared my own version of here—definitely a variation on a personal "wellbeing equation" ⬇️
https://open.substack.com/pub/bowendwelle/p/how-well-is-your-wheel-rolling
More to the point of your emphasis on "Designing Your Own Path Forward," Absolutely! We all need our own philosophy–not invented from scratch, but built up from life experience, reading, and collective wisdom to form "an equation that reflects who we are" as you put it ⬇️
https://open.substack.com/pub/bowendwelle/p/drapas-shirt
Thank you Bowen! 😊 I truly appreciate your kind words. I love the connection you make to the wheel of life exercise as a tool for self-reflection and I appreciate you sharing your version—it’s quite something! It’s fascinating how these mental frameworks whether a wheel, a wellbeing equation or another lived-out metaphor all point to a similar truth that our well-being is dynamic, deeply personal and ever evolving.
And I couldn’t agree more on the point that our philosophy of life isn’t something we invent out of thin air but rather something we grapple with and refine over time (or at least we should, in my opinion if we want to be more than a mindless repetition of what came before us). Meaning, it sould be shaped and reshaped by our experiences, introspection and the wisdom we gather along the way. Looking forward to reading your pieces. Thank you for sharing!
Bronce, my friend, this was nothing short of brilliant. I especially appreciated how you unpack the invisible influence of early conditioning with such compassion and clarity. It’s a gentle but powerful call to reclaim authorship over our lives. Your work is a true gift!
Thank you Sara :) It has taken me a long time to be able to put these thoughts out in as clear a fashion as I am able to. One worries, at times, that maybe you won't hit the mark and you'll miss too far afield. I rather like how you put it "to reclaim authorship". I think that is exactly what many of us are trying to do but don't quite know how on a consistent basis.
Appreciate your focus on self-reflection and understanding what is important.
Thank you William! I appreciate you saying this and highlighting this part of life, so to speak. I’m not fond of cookie-cutter answers in life. They can be helpful but they don’t replace what you mention: self-reflection + understanding.
I would put it much simpler: Experiment!
Try this, honestly evaluate results. The key is "honestly". That's it. Don't believe. Listen and check it out for yourself.
Yes, there is a truth to what you say. While I believe there are certain tenets or rules to healthy living backed by science that apply to everyone, still everyone is different and certain rules will need to be experimented with.
I do call this experiments in living and one has to take up one's life honestly and check out what works and what doesn't. The whole free will aspect and all.
The confrence or going through the Guided Journal came out good except for one small thing. It is really embarassing after working almost 30 years in studio city where the studios are. I am definatly not a cinematographer. i lost the digital. I think i am going to do it again. The live was Discover the Art of Journaling to find your authentic self. I think Almost Dr, Chambre is going to do it again with pdf journals people can write. Its also for sale on Amazon. Thank you for asking
g
I love the notion that our blueprint is as unique as a fingerprint—and that we have the ability to craft and personalize it for ourselves in a way that suits us. An important message in the era of biohack bros and incessant messaging that “this is the one true way to healing.” If we pause, get quiet, really listen, we find that the answers have been gently tapping us on the shoulder all along.
ACP! Thank you :) Yes, no more let's get moving towards optimizing what's the best single method for the company at the expense of idividualized needs. Our health and wellness are not bread out of machines and neither should we train ourselves to think we should be one.
This is insightful Dr. Bronce and it does a comprehensive breakdown of what we briefly discussed the other day.
Self-help material can be valuable, but the way we engage with it is misguided.
We treat these resources like instruction manuals, assuming that strict adherence to their steps will resolve whatever afflicts us. This approach is flawed because it assumes we are all running on the same internal “software.” While we may share the same human machinery, the programming beneath—the psychological, emotional, and experiential layers—is unique to each of us. Manuals written for one type of software will inevitably fail another.
Instead, self-help should be seen as a set of tools, ways to look under the hood and begin working through our challenges in ways that align with our personal wiring. The issue is that most self-help content isn’t built with this in mind. It’s often commodified, repackaged as a product promising transformation, while failing to account for the complexity of individual experience.
In truth, the wisdom needed to confront our dysfunctions often already exists within us. And more often we are afraid to face this truth and thus resort to external fixes which is just a form of escapism.
What we require are not prescriptions, but the right tools and guidance to help us access it.
Thank you once more for this submission!
Soul Quill - Thank you for taking the time to read my article and, by your analogy, looking below the hood of what I'm laying down. To tie the world of self-help to the complexity of individual experience and escapism made me smile. You have nailed it. It's why I need an agent, editor and publisher who have a soul.
I hope our paths continue to cross on the scenic Substack byways. Thank you for showin up!
My pleasure Dr. Bronce
Your writing was well worth the price of a kidney. Not only can you write, but you can also give your readers a psychoanalytic poetry. This piece was written so artfully and easily to read, and it's filled with many ways we have avoided taking care of ourselves. As I was reading your article, I was reminded of a conference
My apologies Dr Chambre for not seeing this sooner! Please keep your kidneys - both of them! I'd love to hear about the conference you mentioned.
I hope the moving is going! :)
This was such a thoughtful and grounding reminder that well-being isn't one-size-fits-all. Thank you for emphasizing self-trust over comparison—it really lands.
I really appreciate you weighing in, Anton—especially given the depth of work you do helping others navigate their own journeys through doubt and into self-trust. Your voice carries the weight of lived experience and, for me, that always resonates more deeply.
I appreciate your post.
However, everyone understands and knows well that not only your well-being equation but its opposite equation also is as unique as your fingerprint. So it's not a surprise. It's more important to know and understand why you're as unique as your fingerprint. It's equally important to know and understand the factors that give birth to you with such uniqueness.
Can you solve this puzzle?
Yoga discipline - Thank you for your thoughtful response. You're absolutely right both our well-being and our suffering are as unique as fingerprints. The real puzzle is why we’re so unique and how that uniqueness is shaped.
I believe the answer lives at the intersection of nature and nurture in that our biology is interwoven with early relationships, experiences and cultural conditioning. These factors quietly sculpt our emotional patterns, coping mechanisms and eventual sense of our self.
But perhaps the deeper question is not just how we’re shaped but whether and when we begin to wake up to it. That’s the true beginning of our transformation in recognizing the architecture behind our behaviors and beliefs and then consciously choosing which parts still serve us.
So maybe the “solution” isn’t a fixed answer more a lifelong inquiry and willingness to explore the roots of our becoming and through that awareness create new possibilities. I’d be curious to hear how you explore this through the lens of yoga and disciplined self-awareness.
"Designing a life that supports your well-being is more art than science" - I flipped on this one. Truly great article, Dr. Rice. I shall reread it again.
Toni - Thank you, I'm glad you liked it. Feel free to throw out additional thoughts if/when you reread it. I have a few other posts in line with this article as well. Oh and please call me Bronce.
There are so many gems in this article. Saved it to reread again as needed.
Thank you Emily! I find if I go back to an article again and reread it for me it means it has left an indendation in my mind in a good way. lol :)
"Unlike animals that instinctively know how to thrive, we humans must consciously design our lives—over time—to support our health and wellness." > I love this and it's not even only our health and wellness, but literally our entire life that we should design more
Claudia - Bingo! You nailed it. Our entire life should be designed more but as I mention in another piece try designing other important areas of your life when you haven't designed your health and wellness first.
What a brilliant article Dr Brounce Rice ! You are phenomenal when it came to deliver something very insightful, yes our wellness equation should be our own it should not be the equation set for us by society , or any other person around us !! Your work is really an amazing work thank you for for sharing 🙏
Anket - Thank you for the kind words :) and taking the time to read my piece and digest it. I do think it hightlights a fair bit of what we are up against via the human condition and human nature and the difficulties of finding our own ways in life. We all rub off on one another as we should but this can make things a bit of a struggle depending on what exactly is rubbing off. Thank you again I rather appreciate it.