Oh what wonderful contrast I am offered when I spend time with my beloved family! And to be clear, I choose to spend time with them every year. I look forward to it. I love it. And I twist and turn trying to escape the discomfort of the contradictory thoughts and feelings that overcome me… Continue reading Family
“We habitually erect a barrier called blame that keeps us from communicating genuinely with others, and we fortify it with our concepts of who’s right and who’s wrong. We do that with the people who are closest to us and we do it with political systems, with all kinds of things that we don’t like… Continue reading Blame: Changing the Game
Hi. I’m in Norway! Heading home next week. We are in Svalbard today. Land of polar bears, midnight sun, a Global Seed Vault, and the kind of magic that can only be found at the end of the world. I will have been traveling with my parents and two teenage sons for a week now.… Continue reading When to Stop, Drop and Take a Deep Breath
This week, I’m in Norway with my kids and my mom and dad (Well, when this is posted, I will be in Norway). Now I’m sitting on my couch in Los Angeles, preparing for my trip by writing the posts for when I’m away. For me, constancy + discipline = self-love. These are aspirations, not… Continue reading Guidelines vs Rules: Practicing Mindfulness
Just a friendly reminder to stop and smell the roses. Literally. Stop. Smell those roses next time you walk by some. Yesterday I stopped and lay in the shade of this palm tree. It wasn’t on my schedule of things to get done — I was driving by and inspiration hit. Yes, that’s inspiration. How… Continue reading A Mindful Pause for Pleasure
“The Law of Least Effort: Accept people, situations, and events as they occur. Take responsibility for your situation and for all events seen as problems. Relinquish the need to defend your point of view.” —Deepak Chopra’s, Seven Spiritual Laws of Success While I’m not crazy about the word “laws,” potentially introducing a new set of… Continue reading Practicing Defenselessness
There it is. The thing we’re all scrambling around, trying with all our might (and TV and cell phones, and movies, and drugs and alcohol and sex) to forget. No getting around it. You can look at this with doom and gloom falling deeper into the grip of fear, or you can allow it… Continue reading At some point in this life, you will lose everything you love.
Hi. I’ve been working on a post for this week titled: At some point in this life, you will lose everything you love. Fuck, right? And it’s a great post. I promise. Not at all as dark as it sounds. And yet, I can’t get myself to finish writing it this morning. Actually, I’m… Continue reading Happy Dance: When mindfulness leads to fulfillment
“I felt my lungs inflate with the onrush of scenery—air, mountains, trees, people. I thought, ‘This is what it is to be happy.’” —Sylvia Plath, The Bell Jar Where do you go to feel good? Me, I head to the woods, or the ocean, jagged cliffs or soft sand—any of these will do. As will… Continue reading The Healing Power of Nature
Practice = the actual application or use of an idea, belief, or method as opposed to theories about such application or use. There’s no mention of the word “perfect” here. We humans made that up. Practice makes perfect. In mindfulness practice we call this “conditioning.” The stories we make up or get passed down… Continue reading Practice, makes as good as possible
the love letter projects 