“Each day comes bearing its own gifts. Untie the ribbons.” ~Ruth Ann Schabacker
Regardless of what holiday you celebrate, or how you honor it, there’s no denying this is an emotionally loaded time of year.
We either remind ourselves how grateful we are for all the people we love, or we remember how much it hurts that we don’t have people like that in our lives.… Read More
“A more peaceful way to live is to decide consciously which battles are worth fighting and which are better left alone.” ~Richard Carlson
Have you ever been in a relationship that seemed more like work than fun? Where every day you seemed to have a new issue to discuss?
Maybe it had to do with little miscommunications, or an ongoing dispute, or a difference of opinion that regularly complicated your daily interactions.… Read More
“The practice of forgiveness is our most important contribution to the healing of the world.” ~Marianne Williamson
I lay huddled in a ball, my arms tightly around my knees, screaming at the top of my lungs. “Stop!” I wailed.
It was November 30, 2006. The next day I was turning 13, and it seemed like my life was crumbling before my eyes.… Read More
“When you live on a round planet, there’s no choosing sides.” ~Wayne Dyer
Te holiday season is a time to connect with others, to celebrate our common humanity, even if the holidays we celebrate are different.
Instead sadly people all over the world are still taking sides. They seek to identify with one “side” or another (tribe, culture, religion, politics, nationality).… Read More
“Relationships are like glass. Sometimes it’s better to leave them broken than try to hurt yourself putting it back together.” ~Unknown
There was a time when I was quite black-and-white with relationships. I either trusted you implicitly, assuming you’d never intentionally hurt me, or believed you wanted to cause me pain and questioned everything you did.… Read More
“Logic will take you from A to B. Imagination will take you everywhere.” ~Albert Einstein
I feel grateful to be a writer not only because I love to write, but also because writing has been one of my greatest spiritual teachers. Challenges I face as a writer teach me important life lessons, just as life teaches me lessons I can apply to my writing.… Read More
“Love isn’t a state of perfect caring. It is an active noun, like struggle. To love someone is to strive to accept that person exactly the way he or she is, right here and now.” ~Fred Rogers
“Beware of the half truth. You may have gotten hold of the wrong half.” ~Unknown
When you’re depressed, your perception about many things changes—so how does this affect your relationships?… Read More
“It takes courage to grow up and become who you really are.” ~E.E Cummings
I was pretty shy and very quiet kid, so going to school for the first time in kindergarten was a terrifying experience for me.
After a short time, though, life brightened for me in my little elementary school.… Read More
“You, yourself, as much as anybody in the entire universe, deserve your love and affection.” ~Buddha
I married myself at the age of 37 in a quiet ceremony of one near a waterfall in Big Sur, California.
I had prepared my “soul vows.” These vows were my deepest commitment to love, cherish, and deeply care for all parts of myself in sickness and in health, until my time on the planet comes to an end.… Read More
“We are all connected in ways we cannot even begin to fathom. Our lives unfold through each other and within each other.” ~David Rhodes
I can’t help myself—I love sleeping with people.
The more the better!
There’s nothing like crawling between the sheets with a lot of people. Female. Male. An armload of ethnicities.… Read More
“Judge nothing, you will be happy. Forgive everything, you will be happier. Love everything, you will be happiest.” ~Sri Chinmoy
Oh yeah, this has been a big one for me. Huge.
I’ve had a long, tedious journey toward recognizing that many of my thoughts were based in judgments of others. I didn’t realize it for years.… Read More
“Trust your own instinct. Your mistakes might as well be your own, instead of someone else’s.” ~Billy Wilder
I’ve had my share of toxic relationships, or at least what I thought was toxic. Is it fair to say you have too? My guess is that we’ve all endured the company of people who were not shooting for our highest good.… Read More
“Distance means so little when someone means so much.” ~Unknown
People tend to think long-distance relationships are one of the hardest possible ways of loving someone. I live in one: As a young European, I am deeply in love with my African boyfriend who pursues his career in Asia.
I met my love about two years ago.… Read More
“Pain is not a sign of weakness, but bearing it alone is a choice to grow weak.” ~Lori Deschene
There was a time in my life when I struggled to share my pain. I actually took great pride in how stubborn I had become. It wasn’t until I started looking within myself that these prideful attitudes started to shift.… Read More
“You have been criticizing yourself for years, and it hasn’t worked. Try approving of yourself and see what happens.” ~Louise L. Hay
We all have techniques we depend on to lift our spirits when we’re feeling down about ourselves or our lives.
A while back I realized something about the ones I’d found most effective when struggling to forgive or accept myself: Many of them involved seeking validation from other people.… Read More
“Sometimes the wrong choices bring us to the right places.” ~Unknown
In a span of one month, my beloved little red Toyota catches on fire, burning to a molten blob; I land in the emergency room with a ruptured disc after lifting a child out of her wheelchair; and I try a do-it-yourself hair highlighting kit, which leaves me looking, well, think Phyllis Diller.… Read More
“Love and compassion are necessities, not luxuries. Without them, humanity cannot survive.” ~Dalai Lama
I thought I understood compassion. Having spent ten years of my life training to be a psychiatrist, I knew how to define it, describe it, and think about it. I thought I got it.
A few years ago, my brother was diagnosed with a serious mental illness.… Read More
“Fear has its use but cowardice has none.” ~Gandhi
On Monday, my boyfriend and I took a ferry to Catalina Island, where we planned to spend the night.
I knew the island would be quaint and charming, which was a big part of its appeal, but I was mostly looking forward to breathing in the salty ocean air.… Read More
“To be beautiful means to be yourself. You don’t need to be accepted by others. You need to accept yourself.” ~Thich Nhat Hanh
“I aim to please. It’s okay, no worries. Please don’t worry, its no big deal.” These are some things I’ve said when interacting with others. The truth was that it wasn’t okay, and it was inconveniencing me.… Read More
“The biggest problem for humanity, not only on a global level, but even for individuals, is misunderstanding.” ~Rinpoche
There will always be misunderstandings in life. That’s a given.
The question is, how much damage will they do? How will misunderstandings affect our fulfillment? Our overall happiness?
And I’m not talking about the “Three’s Company” style of misunderstandings, which result from mistaken identity or eavesdropping.… Read More
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