Category: Relationships
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The Volcanoes of Hawaii, Part 2: Hawaii Volcanoes National Park
By Rachel Puryear The beautiful Hawaiian islands are known for their warm tropical weather, beaches, abundant rainforests, and laid-back culture – but did you know that these islands are also home to some pretty magnificent volcanoes, too? Hawaii’s two national parks both showcase these volcanoes fantastically, and this post will cover Hawaii Volcanoes National Park,…
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The Volcanoes of Hawaii, Part 1: Haleakala National Park
By Rachel Puryear The beautiful Hawaiian islands are known for their warm tropical weather, beaches, abundant rainforests, and laid-back culture – but did you know that these islands are also home to some pretty magnificent volcanoes, too? Hawaii’s two national parks both showcase these volcanoes fantastically, and this post will cover Haleakala National Park, on…
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Introverts, HSP’s, and Food
By Rachel Puryear No matter who we are, we all need to eat. And even beyond the obvious physical need for nourishment, food is one of humanity’s great pleasures in life, as well as an incredible (an often under appreciated) means of social bonding and connection. No doubt about it, the way people eat has…
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Water Dog Lake Park in Belmont, California
By Rachel Puryear Okay, initially, I checked out this park in part because of its name – I imagined dogs of all kinds swimming around in the lake, and just enjoying themselves. The day I went actually didn’t have very many people or dogs there, but it’s a peaceful and pretty local park nonetheless. Also,…
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The Mysterious Third Person Phenomenon
By Rachel Puryear Have you ever been in a very dangerous, even life threatening situation? Chances are, you either have, or someone else you love has. Maybe an accident or natural disaster, violence or a serious threat of such, being lost or stranded in a place where survival is unlikely, and so forth. Sometimes, people…
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The San Francisco Bay Trail
By Rachel Puryear The San Francisco Bay Area is known for its natural beauty, diversity, innovation, opportunity, progressive ideals, and so much more. The San Francisco Bay Trail is a large network of trails all over the Bay Area, which allows enjoyment of all there is here to offer, and with beautiful views. The Bay…
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Q&A: Signs You’re Being Catfished
By Rachel Puryear Have you ever met someone who seemed incredibly wonderful – but had a nagging feeling that they were perhaps too good to be true? And then maybe found out that they in fact weren’t who you initially thought they were? Unfortunately, that’s something just about all of us will experience in this…
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Have You Ever Experienced a Disappearing Place?
By Rachel Puryear For most of us, the idea of stumbling upon a mysterious place, only to find it’s not there anymore later; sounds like the realm of fiction – or even an overactive imagination. However, a number of people claim to have experienced exactly that, and have shared their stories to willing listeners on…
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Great Basin National Park
By Rachel Puryear Far out in the remote Nevada desert, a short distance off America’s Loneliest Highway, is an awesome natural wonder – the Great Basin. Great Basin National Park offers stunning views of the Great Basin, as well as some amazing caves! Plus, it’s an International Dark Sky Park, meaning that the nighttime offers…
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Bedwell Bayfront Park’s Great Spirit Path in Menlo Park, California
By Rachel Puryear You’ve probably heard of Stonehenge in the English countryside – but have you also heard of the Bay Area’s “Stonehenge by the Bay”? Bedwell Bayfront Park features the Great Spirit Path, also known as Stonehenge by the Bay, where you can get a great hike with amazing views, while also seeing stone…
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Wonderful Tropical Forest Images
By Rachel Puryear In the world’s tropical regions, year-round heat and abundant rainfall makes for many lush, gorgeous tropical rainforests teeming with diverse, amazing life forms. These pictures will help showcase that natural beauty – but you’ll have to visit there yourself in order to also experience the awesome sounds, smells, and humidity of these…
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Taylor Mountain Regional Park in Santa Rosa, California
By Rachel Puryear California’s Sonoma County offers a famously diverse array of beautiful landscapes. Within one set of county lines, you can visit beaches, forests, mountains, rivers, lakes, and more. The area also offers plenty of wonderful parks to explore. One lovely such mountainous park is at Taylor Mountain. If you’re ever in the area,…
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Awesome Snowy Forest Images
By Rachel Puryear In the chilly depths of Winter, there is a quiet beauty – snow blankets much of the world, and wraps many forests in an icy splendor. Thank you, dear readers, for reading, following, and sharing. Here’s to awesome Winter wonderlands. If you enjoyed this post, please “like” and subscribe, if you have…
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The Beaches of Pacifica, California
By Rachel Puryear About fifteen minutes south of San Francisco is the small coastal town of Pacifica, California. The name comes from the Spanish word for “peaceful”, and the town does live up to that name. It’s a quiet, peaceful, unpretentious town with a relaxed vibe. Even though it’s right near several busy and crowded…
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Asking for Help is Great – But is There Also an Obligation to Offer It?
By Rachel Puryear We all know that it’s very helpful to ask for help. It lets others know what we need when they might otherwise have no idea, and it gives us a chance to practice being assertive. Certainly, people should ask for help more often – and many don’t, quite to their own detriment.…
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Central Park in San Mateo, California
By Rachel Puryear Urban parks make for very special places within a city, whereby residents can get out and enjoy nature, right in (or near) their own neighborhoods. San Mateo, a small city about halfway between San Francisco and San Jose, boasts its own big urban park – San Mateo’s Central Park. There’s lots to…
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Amazing Outer Space Images
By Rachel Puryear Hi folks, your World Class Hugs host has some big personal life events going on. Accordingly, I am unable to put forth the usual kind of content for a short while. However, here some pictures of the gorgeous universe for you to enjoy, and hopefully get a good dose of inspiration and…
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Glorious Sunrises and Sunsets
By Rachel Puryear Hi folks, your World Class Hugs host has some big personal life events going on. Accordingly, I am unable to put forth the usual kind of content for a short while. However, here are some pictures of beautiful sunrises and sunsets for you to enjoy, and hopefully get a good dose of…
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Cat Pictures to Enjoy
By Rachel Puryear Hi folks, your World Class Hugs host has some big personal life events going on. Accordingly, I am unable to put forth the usual kind of content for a short while. However, here are some cat pictures for you to enjoy, and hopefully get a good dose of happiness and good vibes…
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Urban Nature Hikes in San Francisco, California
By Rachel Puryear San Francisco, California, the City by the Bay, is a major city known for many things – arts and sciences, diversity, great food, culture and progressive attitudes; and it also features lots of stunning natural beauty. Even within this major urban city, there are plenty of places to enjoy the great outdoors,…
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Simple Yet Powerful Things to Say to a Dying Loved One
By Rachel Puryear Nothing fully prepares you for losing a loved one. It’s something we will all go through sometimes in life, and it’s one of the hardest and most painful things we can experience. It’s often hard to know what to say to someone who we love, when they are nearing death. And of…
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Eaton Park in San Carlos, California
By Rachel Puryear If you enjoy hilltop vistas and beautiful panoramic views, then check out this lesser-known park in San Carlos, California. It’s truly a hidden local gem! This park is also less crowded than many other nearby parks. Hiking around sunrise or sunset is rewarded with seeing gorgeous lighting over the lush surrounding hills.…
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Yes, It’s Okay to Cut Ties Over Politics
By Rachel Puryear As the new administration in the USA unfolds in a predictably horrifying fashion, an old debate has once again been re-ignited in the court of public opinion: is it acceptable to cut ties and end relationships with other people – even family members and longtime friends – over differences in political beliefs,…
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Butano State Park in Pescadero, California
By Rachel Puryear On the coast of the San Francisco Bay Area region, is the charming small town of Pescadero, along the ocean. One of the great gems found on the outskirts of this town is Butano State Park – acres of trails through gorgeous, quiet, humid forests kept moist, and often draped in layers…
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Emotional Black Holes
By Rachel Puryear We’ve all heard about black holes in outer space, and probably marveled at how dangerous they could be – with their gravity being so strong that nothing can escape them. However, luckily, you will probably never actually encounter a black hole in outer space. What you’re much more likely to encounter right…
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Huddart Park in Woodside, California
By Rachel Puryear If you thought enchanted forests were something found only in fairy tales, you probably haven’t been to Huddart Park (and the several other gorgeous parks found in Woodside). Shaded by plenty of towering trees, often shrouded in fog from the nearby ocean, covered in a reddish-brown floor from the many redwood trees,…
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Signs of Emotional Maturity (or a Lack Thereof)
By Rachel Puryear When it comes to all kinds of interpersonal relationships – be they romantic, friendships, familial, business, or otherwise – the difference between closeness with an emotionally mature person, versus an emotionally immature person; is profound, and like night and day. Accordingly, it’s important to be able to spot signs of emotional maturity…
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Gamble Garden in Palo Alto, California
By Rachel Puryear Do you love to stroll around a large garden, with a bounty of fresh, beautiful flowers and trees? If so, then Gamble Garden – nestled in the affluent city of Palo Alto, and in the heart of the Bay Area’s Silicon Valley – is a perfect place to visit and enjoy, and…
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Every Bully Needs Enablers
Rachel Puryear Nobody in their right mind likes a bully. Yet, bullies get their way far too often in everyday life, and feel entitled to do so – typically enjoying an undeserved, and elevated social status. So how do they get away with that, and only rarely face consequences for their bad behavior? Especially when…
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The Akashic Records
By Rachel Puryear Have you ever wondered what it would be like to live as someone else? It’s a strange and profound moment in life when we realize that the only being we’ll witness the entire lived experience of, from birth until death, is ourselves. And that no one else – no matter how much…
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Filoli Gardens in Redwood City, California
By Rachel Puryear Tucked into a corner of the San Francisco Bay Area’s Peninsula region is the gorgeous, and historic, Filoli estate – with huge gardens, forest trails, and a mansion belonging to the families who used to own Filoli privately. Stroll through serene, shady forests with towering redwood trees. Enjoy browsing colorful flower beds…
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Complicated Versus Uncomplicated Relationships
By Rachel Puryear On this blog, we’ve previously discussed chemistry versus compatibility in relationships, the difference between inner circle versus outer circle friends and relations, and also considering how well two people’s goals may or may not line up – in the context of large age gaps in relationships. This post will build upon those…
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San Bruno Mountain
By Rachel Puryear There’s nothing like an awesome panoramic view from the mountaintops. San Bruno Mountain, a short drive south of San Francisco, offers sweeping views of much of the Bay Area on a clear day. It’s a large and popular California state park, but usually doesn’t feel crowded or overrun with people. Instead, despite…
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Are You Afraid of Your Own Shadow?
By Rachel Puryear If you value personal growth, you may have heard of shadow work. Shadow work, basically, means addressing the parts of our psyches that most people tend to keep hidden – darker sides to our personalities, trauma, negative emotions, and so forth. All of us, no matter how kind and ethical we may…
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Chemistry Versus Compatibility in Relationships
By Rachel Puryear The first few months of a new relationship is an exciting and intense time. You’re likely giddy, thinking about your new sweetheart frequently, and dreaming of the future. That dreamy phase is known as new relationship energy, or the honeymoon phase – and for most couples, it last about three to six…
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Most People Aren’t Good at Lie Detection – But Here’s What We Can Learn From the Few Who Are
By Rachel Puryear Your life would probably be easier and less complicated; if you could automatically tell whether other people are lying to you, or telling you the truth. Most people, however, aren’t very good at telling when someone is lying to them – even though many think they are. However, there are exceptions, as…
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Trauma Bonding in Relationships
By Rachel Puryear Ideally, we would all only fall in love with people who love us back, and who want to treat us well. Unfortunately, that’s so often not the case – people fall in love all the time with people who don’t care about them, who abuse and mistreat them in all kinds of…
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Toxic People Versus Toxic Relationships
By Rachel Puryear The subject of toxic people – and toxic relationships – is always a popular one. That’s because a toxic person can bring a great deal of pain, leave paths of devastation, and wreak havoc in so many other people’s lives so quickly. Meanwhile, a toxic relationship can bring so much misery and…
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Empathic, Highly Sensitive People and Dissociation
By Rachel Puryear One defining feature of highly sensitive and empathic people, in the minds of the public, is that they are highly emotive and feel deeply. There is good reason for that perception – there’s a lot of truth in it. However, does that mean that a person who doesn’t seem highly emotive –…
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Can You Really Not Love Others, or Be Loved, Until You Love Yourself?
By Rachel Puryear There’s a modern adage which says that in order to love someone else, you must first love yourself. There’s also another one that says in order to be loved by others, you also must first love yourself. But are these words of wisdom really true? Well, they’re rooted in a deep truth…
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Q&A: Relationships With Large Age Differences
By Rachel Puryear I received a question from a reader regarding romantic relationships with large age differences. The reader wanted to know whether such relationships are inherently unfair to the younger person, given that the older person has more life experience – and, likely, the older person has more power in the relationship accordingly. It’s…
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Who You Already Know is a Huge Factor in Who You’ll Meet
By Rachel Puryear When it comes to getting jobs and advancing in a career, there’s the old adage that it’s not as much what you know, but rather who you know that’s the biggest factor in your success. Actually, that same principle also applies to social relationships (friendships, romantic, and acquaintances), too – who you…
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Dark Triad and Light Triad – Be Careful Who You Choose
By Rachel Puryear In life, we all meet some very difficult people along the way. And if we’re lucky, we also meet some really wonderful ones. You may have heard the term “dark triad,” referring to some of the most difficult – and often destructive – personalities: narcissists, psychopaths, and Machiavellians. There’s also a lesser-known…
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Self-Confidence Versus Narcissism
By Rachel Puryear There’s no denying the sexy appeal of a person with loads of self-confidence – and there’s no physical feature more attractive than someone who unwaveringly believes in their own worth. At the same time, no one wants to end up entangled with a narcissist – and aren’t narcissists grandiose, self-entitled egomaniacs who…
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Distinguishing Between Controlling Versus Protective
By Rachel Puryear We all know someone who claims to be “protective” over those closest to them, but it seems an awful lot more like they’re being controlling. We also know someone who is genuinely protective, and it feels loving, rather than domineering. Sometimes, also, the line isn’t so clear – someone might intend to…
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Types of People You Cannot Help
By Rachel Puryear If there’s one good piece of advice in terms of getting along with others and getting on their best side, it’s to never make other people regret trying to help you. Some people, though, don’t embrace that principle – they make it difficult to impossible for others to effectively help them, even…
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Nosiness and Curiosity are Completely Different Things
By Rachel Puryear It’s part of being human that we usually want other people to be curious about us, and pay attention to us. In fact, that’s probably at the root of the desire many people have to be famous. At the same time, most of us usually don’t like nosy people prying into our…
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Deep Questions to Help Couples and Friends REALLY Get to Know Each Other
By Rachel Puryear When it comes to getting to know each other in developing relationships and friendships; it takes time and effort to build closeness, and establish a bond. However, you can make that timeline move faster if you ask each other the right kind of questions. Small talk is largely gap-filler that’s used to…
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Controlling Relationship Red Flags People Often Overlook
Rachel Puryear When it comes to friendships and relationships, savvy people usually know the obvious red flags and bad signs. From people who hit or belittle, who consistently don’t do their fair share or who aren’t there when you need them, who are just all-around mean-spirited people or whose deeply poor judgement affects everyone around…
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Exploring Five Conflict Styles – Which Ones Are Yours?
By Rachel Puryear In life, conflict is an inevitable part of human relations. However, that doesn’t mean it has to be inherently destructive – or that we cannot pretty often resolve it with some mutual effort, and a willingness to do so constructively. Improving one’s conflict resolution skills is a worthy goal for anyone, and…
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On Loving a Highly Empathic Person
By Rachel Puryear If you’re in a relationship with a highly empathic person, consider yourself very lucky. These folks, making up around 20% of the population, come equally in all genders, and from all walks of life (a similar proportion of many other animal species also have a corresponding trait like this). They also love…
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Seeing Others, and Being Seen Ourselves
By Rachel Puryear One of the deepest universal needs people have is to be seen – and heard – in our relationships with others. This need is so important that it helps make or break the success of, and mutual satisfaction with, just about any kind of human relationship. Basically, seeing others means just getting…
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What is Emotional Labor, and Why Does it Matter?
By Rachel Puryear We all have a pretty good sense of what it means to perform physical labor. We perform physical labor in workplaces – that might include, depending upon your occupation; building houses, serving food, or shuffling lots of paper; as examples. At home and in everyday life; physical labor could include cleaning house,…
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