“Compassionate listening is to help the other side suffer less.” ~Thich Nhat Hanh
In late 2017 my husband and I were both getting ready for work one morning when I casually said, “Hey, I think I’m going to start teaching …
Older
Beautiful inside and out—
Invisible
I gave a little start when those words flashed onto the screen during a presentation by the poet Elizabeth Bradfield. Liz was in the process of describing six-word memoirs, modeled on Hemingway’s heartbreaking story …
“Life is a balance between what we can control and what we cannot. I am learning to live between effort and surrender.” ~Danielle Orner
Over a year ago, I boarded a plane and found myself on the beautiful beaches of …
“A pause gives you breathing space so listen to the whispers of the real you waiting to happen.” ~Tara Estacaan
You and I, we’re much too busy. We’re doing too much. We’re stressed. We’re overscheduled and overwhelmed. And we’re not …
A couple weeks back I shared a quote on Facebook that really spoke to me:
“A child is going to remember who was there, not what you spent on them. Kids outgrow toys and outfits, but they never outgrow time …
“Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a …
“The beautiful thing about fear is that when you run to it, it runs away.” ~Robin Sharma
During my first-grade choir concert, my classmate, Meg, fainted from the top row of the bleachers, and in a subconscious gesture of empathy, …
“What you tell yourself every day will lift you up or tear you down. Choose wisely.” ~Unknown
It was a story I just couldn’t get out of my head. A young teen had died in a town not far from …
“In the midst of movement and chaos, keep stillness inside of you.” ~Deepak Chopra
I found my peace in New York City, where I spent a year as a consultant on a temporary work assignment.
It may seem counter-intuitive that …
“You will never be free until you free yourself from the prison of your own false thoughts.” ~Philip Arnold
Every meditator knows the dilemma of trying to find that perfectly quiet place to meditate, where silence is the golden rule …
“You are not a mistake. You are not a problem to be solved. But you won’t discover this until you are willing to stop banging your head against the wall of shaming and caging and fearing yourself.” ~Geneen Roth
I’ve …
“Enthusiasm is the electricity of life.” ~Gordon Parks
Have you ever noticed how powerful enthusiasm is? It can be contagious.
If a friend or someone around us is enthusiastic there’s a certain energy or presence that shines from them that …
“The meaning of life is just to be alive. It is so plain and so obvious and so simple. And yet, everybody rushes around in a great panic as if it were necessary to achieve something beyond themselves.” ~Alan Watts…
“Obstacles do not block the path, they are the path.” ~Zen proverb
I thought the concept of a “cold sweat” was unreal and paradoxical until the evening of August 27, 2014. That was my first cold sweat. My first of …
“If your compassion does not include yourself, it is incomplete.” ~Jack Kornfield
It seemed like the natural thing to do.
A middle-aged man had dropped his keys near me. I jumped up, hopped over, picked the keys up, and gave …
Hi friends! Since we’re well into December now, I imagine many of you may be either starting or rounding out your holiday shopping. If you’re not yet familiar with Backpack Buddha, I highly recommend checking them out!
What I …
“Mindfulness is about love and loving life. When you cultivate this love, it gives you clarity and compassion for life, and your actions happen in accordance with that.” ~Jon Kabat-Zinn
I started meditating and practicing mindfulness more seriously several years …
“Don’t be afraid of death; be afraid of an unlived life. You don’t have to live forever; you just have to live.” ~Natalie Babitt
Once a month, I visit the local cemetery and walk around. I’m not there to visit …
“Let the beauty we love be what we do. There are hundreds of ways to kneel and kiss the ground.” ~Rumi
“Isn’t this a miracle?” I asked myself in the milk aisle at Whole Foods.
It was a Wednesday night …
“Quiet the voice telling you to do more and be more, and trust that in this moment, who you are, where you are at, and what you are doing is enough. You will get to where you need to be …
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