Dori Hartley

Just the other day, a dear friend of mine wrote me a note letting me know that he was gravely concerned about what he perceived to be my undeniably positive attitude towards things in general. He said that he couldn't help but notice how all of my recent writings had...

Ever feel like parts of your life could be made into an episode fit for the X-Files or Fringe?

I wouldn't say it happens to everyone, but most of us have had at least one experience that we simply cannot explain. Whether it was a trick of the shadows that...

For about four years now, I've kept an account on Facebook. It's been good; I've generally enjoyed my time spent on the site. I've reconnected with old friends, sold books and directed readers over to my Huffington Post essays. I've seen the engagement announcements of my friends, read about their...

About 23 years ago, I sat with a friend in the front seat of his cruddy brown Dodge, buzzed out of our minds on hope, dreams and ambition. We were parked outside of some music-oriented establishment, maybe a recording studio -- possibly a place where one or both of us...

What we believe in often becomes that which we wish others would believe in. We wish for their approval and their understanding. We tend to desire the company of those who use the same language of belief as we do.

Likewise, when we are confronted with those who don't...

A few days ago, I was told something that was so insulting, so unbelievably insensitive -- that my ego literally popped. The insult was vile on it's own, but the idea that a person would say something so potentially damaging to another was beyond me. Somehow, I immediately knew that...

I remember the day Russell Crowe saved my life. He wasn't aware of it at the time, but the truth is that without him, I might not be here today.

At the end of the year 2000, the film "Gladiator" had left the theaters and was starting to make its...

Somewhere between 'old hippie' and 'teenage gadget geek' you'll find a huge demographic that basically covers most of the computer-literate spectrum of humanity today. We range from those who lived through land-line telephones with rotary dials to those who wait in long lines on cold, wet days to pay hard...

One day, while I was watching a news report on TV, something happened to me: I lost God.

It only took a second, but it was real. It was as real as were all the many years I'd spent trying to find him/her/it.

I'd already given up on religion....

Almost everyone can agree that the word "love" is jam-packed with power and meaningful emotion, but what I find most curious is how we deal with it when it's sandwiched in between the words, "I" and "you," as in, "I love you."

Loving someone works well as a concept; it's...

There must have been a zillion reasons as to why my mother and I stopped speaking to each other, but if you ask me now what any of those reasons were, I wouldn't be able to tell you. Not because I don't remember, but because I'm tired of remembering only...

Right now, all over the world, there are thousands of people who are gathering in defiant masses, huddled together in public spaces for the purpose of one thing only: to show their sincere disappointment in a system that has failed them miserably.

They are not wannabe hippies, living out some...

Medical research is all about percentages and probable outcomes. The numbers can inform us, but more often they are scary or confusing. Reading that 50% of all people react well to a certain drug, or that the mortality rate of a select group is 38% isn't comforting to someone who...

"I'm mad as hell, and I'm not going to take it anymore!" -- Howard Beale, in 'Network'.

Right now, during this particular phase in history, we are watching the word "occupy" transform in definition from it's original "to fill up space," to "I'm mad as hell, and I'm not going...

Ten years ago, when I was told that I was going to have to lose my right breast to cancer, my first thought was, "At least it's not my arm." Losing a body part is -- to say the least -- emotionally devastating, but to know that your only other...

This week new research released by the University of Leicester found that more than 200,000 people in the U.K. have been victims of online romance scams, according to EScienceNews.

The online study showed that 52 percent of those surveyed knew of "romance fraud," and one...

A few days ago, I received a beautiful, tenderly written letter from someone I met 38 years ago. I was 14 at the time, and he was 27. It was the summer of 1973 and the place was Fire Island, New York. For anyone who lived to experience Ocean Beach...

2001 was quite a year for me. I was diagnosed with breast cancer and told that not only would a radical mastectomy be imperative to my survival, but also that I would have to begin a year's worth of aggressive chemotherapy, followed by 35 rounds of radiation. I had the...

Human beings really enjoy setting goals and standards. While some of these goals are attainable, others have developed into challenges that clearly exclude those who are unable to compete. Survival of the fittest has evolved into a true competition, where the winners are praised for their physical beauty, wealth, relationship...

I went shopping online for reading material and got more than I bargained for.

Excited to snag a book on atheism by one of the well-known authors and experts in the field, I eagerly awaited its arrival in my mailbox. I felt this particular book would really help...