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Voicemails for Isabelle: Attachment, Detachment, and Nonattachment
[DISCLAIMER] *Voicemails for Isabelle (2026) spoilers contained herein. Photo credit, property of Sony Pictures, Escape Artists, and Netflix, fair use Since my youth, I’ve enjoyed the romantic comedy (rom-com) genre of films. For instance, during high school, a family took me in to live with them from a children’s home. They had a daughter (“Antebellum”) who was of similar age, and with whom I was passionately in love. She and I would eat scrambled egg and grilled chees
Deric Hollings
2 days ago17 min read
The Sheep Detectives: Repression and Suppression
[DISCLAIMER] *The Sheep Detectives (2026) spoilers contained herein. Photo credit, property of Amazon MGM Studios, Sony Pictures Releasing International, et al., fair use A Sucker for Anthropomorphism Admittedly, I’m a sucker (a person irresistibly attracted by something specified) for anthropomorphism (the ascribing of human personality, appearance, conduct, cognition, or other attributes to non-human entities, often including non-human animals). Allow me to explain.
Deric Hollings
Jul 517 min read
Spilled Milk: Tolerance and Acceptance
[DISCLAIMER] I invite you to consider that one source states, “We’ve all heard the phase before – ‘Don’t cry over spilled milk.’ It’s a classic saying meant to remind us that getting upset over things we can’t change won’t do any good,” using milk as a symbol of something valuable, yet easily lost. Sometimes expressed as “there’s no use crying over spilled milk,” the meaning of this idiomatic expression infers that there’s no point in being upset over something that has a
Deric Hollings
Jun 1817 min read
Life Goes On, and So Does Death
[DISCLAIMER] I’ve just heard about the reported death of singer Oliver Tree. His song “Life Goes On”, from the album Ugly Is Beautiful (2020), has served as content for many electronic dance music (EDM) remixes. Over the years, I’ve enjoyed both the original track and its modifications. According to one source, “Tree stated in an interview that ‘Life Goes On’ is about ‘a problematic relationship where one person treats the other person badly […] shouldn’t waste time on to
Deric Hollings
Jun 145 min read
What Dies, Kids? Everything, and That’s No Hokum.
[DISCLAIMER] *Hokum (2026) spoilers contained herein. Photo credit, property of Image Nation Abu Dhabi, Neon, et al., fair use I recently watched the supernatural horror film Hokum (2026). Succinctly summarizing the plot, one source states, “A horror writer visits an Irish inn to scatter his parents’ ashes, unaware the property is said to be haunted by a witch.” Before I continue any further, I’ll note that this was my first time seeing Irish actor Florence Ordesh in a
Deric Hollings
Jun 719 min read
What Song You Gonna Play When the Hearses Bump?
[DISCLAIMER] On the 2014 album The Tortoise and the Crow, by talented hip hop producers and lyricists The Grouch and Eligh, is the melodic track “So Complicated”. Noteworthy, I stated in a blogpost entitled Complex Systems vs. Complicated Systems: The term “complex” relates to a group of obviously related units of which the degree and nature of the relationship is imperfectly known. As an example, my cellphone is a complex system of components. Also, the American Psycholo
Deric Hollings
Jun 57 min read
I Can't Make It Out Alone
[DISCLAIMER] When providing psychoeducational lessons on Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT), I teach people about the ABC model of self-disturbance (how people upset themselves through use of irrational beliefs). Now, I’ll address a finer point of this psychotherapeutic model of wellness. For context, REBT uses the ABC model to illustrate how when an undesirable Action occurs and you Believe an unhelpful narrative about the event, it’s your unfavorable assumption, n
Deric Hollings
May 117 min read
Doing What I Can Before My Ride Shows Up
[DISCLAIMER] A little over a decade ago, nitape’skw (nee-dub-besk) told me about the life and death of Santee Sioux Nation author, poet, actor, musician, and political activist John Trudell. I miss the contact I had with nitape’skw, as I remain grateful for her having introduced me to the work of Trudell. In one of the most subjectively memorable exit announcements from life, Trudell’s family member reportedly posted on Facebook, “My ride showed up.” and “Celebrate Love.
Deric Hollings
May 106 min read
Eighty Years Here, We Live and We Die, It's Like a Blink of an Eye
[DISCLAIMER] When they were assembled, before apparently going on to pursue solo careers, the group Tragic Allies reminded me of golden age hip hop. Therefore, I still appreciate the album 14 Forms: The Book of Estee Nack (2015) by former group members lyricist Estee Nack and producer Purpose. As a side note, Estee Nack has more self-ascribed nicknames than any other rapper or lyricist of which I can think. A personal favorite is “Nacknuggets.” In any event, on the aforem
Deric Hollings
May 27 min read
Avatar: Aang, the Last Airbender - Unconditional Acceptance
[ DISCLAIMER ] * Avatar: Aang, The Last Airbender (2026), also known as The Legend of Aang: The Last Airbender (2026), spoilers contained herein. Photo credit (unofficial movie poster), property of Paramount Pictures (Paramount+), Nickelodeon Movies, and Avatar Studios, fair use When providing psychoeducational lessons on mental, emotional, and behavioral health (collectively “ mental health ”) within my blog—which predominately focuses on Rational Emotive Behavior T
Deric Hollings
Apr 1614 min read
How Could This Happen to Me?
[ DISCLAIMER ] On the second studio album Still Not Getting Any... (2004) by Canadian rock band Simple Plan is the song “ Untitled (How Could This Happen to Me?) ”. Describing the video for the track, one source states: The music video tells a story of a car crash on a rainy evening where a young male drunk driver crashes his Toyota Camry head-on into a Trans Am driven by a female, resulting in her death. The drunk driver, however, survives relatively uninjured, and en
Deric Hollings
Apr 510 min read
We All Gon' Go One Day
[ DISCLAIMER ] Irrespective of whether or not I’m working with clients on any given day, I practice Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT)—even in my dreams. For instance, I continually remind myself about the importance of tolerance and acceptance regarding most conditions in life. For context, REBT uses unconditional acceptance (UA) to relieve self-induced suffering . This is accomplished through use of unconditional self-acceptance (USA), unconditional other-acce
Deric Hollings
Mar 124 min read
Ghost in the Shell
[ DISCLAIMER ] Earlier, I reminisced about the past (2015) as I used to drive an hour from my home when working with veterans and their caregivers while providing services for mental, emotional, and behavioral health (collectively “ mental health ”). I don’t miss that one-hour commute, both ways. Nevertheless, I spent a lot of time listening to new music during my drives. Specifically, I earlier listened to the album Tetsuo & Youth (2015) by lyricist Lupe Fiasco . My fa
Deric Hollings
Mar 97 min read
An Inscription on Your Gravestone
[ DISCLAIMER ] As Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT) is informed by Stoic philosophy , this blog entry is part of an ongoing series regarding a book entitled The Daily Stoic: 366 Meditations on Wisdom, Perseverance, and the Art of Living by Ryan Holiday and Stephen Hanselman . Lately, how much time have you devoted to contemplation of your inevitable death? How much time have you squandered when thinking about the lives of others who are also inescapably heading
Deric Hollings
Feb 175 min read
Reasoned Choice: Someone There Is Dying
[ DISCLAIMER ] In my youth, adults convinced me that heavy metal music was satanic (of, relating to, or characteristic of Satan or Satanism—obsession with or affinity for evil : specifically, worship of Satan marked by the travesty of Christian rites). Thus, I was forbidden from listening to metal. As such, I unfortunately missed out on enjoying metal music from Metallica . All the same, I was vaguely familiar with some of the band’s songs, because they were quite popul
Deric Hollings
Feb 169 min read
Let's Talk About Death
[ DISCLAIMER ] During my elementary school years, my older sister and I would stay awake at night so that we could watch adult programs. On one occasion, we were able to witness the song “ Push It ” by hip hop trio Salt-N-Pepa being performed on television. The song dripped with sexual innuendo! Although not entirely aware of the ins and outs regarding sexual intercourse, my sister and I were able to ascertain the song’s meaning. That was my introduction to Salt-N-Pepa,
Deric Hollings
Feb 156 min read
Gallows Humor: Nihilist Penguin
[ DISCLAIMER ] Photo credit (edited), fair use Admittedly, I enjoy gallows humor (a style of comedy which makes light of subject matter that is generally considered taboo, particularly subjects that are typically considered serious or painful to discuss, aiming to influence discomfort, serious thought , and amusement for their audience). Since having begun the informal practice of life coaching in 1991, beginning formal practice of psychotherapy in 2011, I’ve come t
Deric Hollings
Jan 299 min read
You Gotta Give It Time, and the Pain Will Pass
[ DISCLAIMER ] When providing psychoeducational lessons on Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT), I teach people about the ABC model of self-disturbance (how people upset themselves through use of irrational beliefs ). Now, I’ll address a finer point of this psychotherapeutic model of wellness . For context, REBT uses the ABC model to illustrate how when an undesirable A ction occurs and you B elieve an unhelpful narrative about the event, it’s your unfavorable a
Deric Hollings
Jan 177 min read
We Must Seize What Flees
[ DISCLAIMER ] There’s a line on lyricist Murs ’s song “ Woke Up Dead ”, produced by Jesse Shatkin and from the album Have a Nice Life (2015), that states “gettin’ older as my life gets shorter.” It’s the sort of message that at first may seem like a throwaway line. Of course, we get older as our lives get shorter. Still, I wonder about how often (or not) people contemplate their own mortality. With each passing day, they grow older while their lives get shorter. All th
Deric Hollings
Nov 1, 20256 min read
The 5 Stages
[ DISCLAIMER ] Throughout my adolescent years I heard people referencing the 5 stages of grief, which were proposed by Elisabeth...
Deric Hollings
Sep 27, 20258 min read
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