April 18, 2021 I originally published this post in 2015. It generated a lot of email responses and comments–which, incidentally, I love to get. Please keep them coming. The last six years have brought monumental changes to my life and the world. But one thing hasn’t changed. Too often, I still forget to be quiet. …
Seedlings
…whispers of very young ideas and morning thoughts…
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Using Anger to Replace Other Uncomfortable Feelings is a Dead-end Street
It’s like putting up a fence to keep out the air. April 4, 2021 Using Anger as a Cover-Up Emotion Most of us didn’t learn how to allow ourselves to feel afraid or vulnerable. We did, however, learn how to cover our fears and vulnerabilities with anger because that made us feel powerful. Often, …
You Don’t Have to Meditate to Become Your Best Self
There is an alternative. March 21, 2021 Just breathe. I’m a meditator. I teach meditation. And sometimes, for weeks in a row, I don’t get on the cushion and meditate. There, I’ve said it. But what I do every day is breathe. And I do it in a way that kicks my vagus …
All We Need is Attention
To make the world a lot less lonely. March 7, 2021 “Those who are unhappy have no need for anything in the world, but people capable of giving them their attention.” Simone Weil Some of us are living in a crisis of conscience. We are ashamed that we haven’t done more to …
Without Patience, All Other Qualities Are Shaky
To develop patience, practice the pause. February 21, 2021 When you’ve been trapped at home with your family for months, drained of compassion by the Groundhog Day experience that has piggy-backed on Covid, the antidote to wanting to rip your children’s faces off is patience. We want to be compassionate and loving, to ourselves …
We Tell Stories not Only to Find Ourselves
We tell them to find, and connect with, each other. January 7, 2021 If I told you when I was eighteen, my mom, my little brother and sister, and I moved from Troy, Tennessee, to Chicago, you would know a fact about my family. Still, you wouldn’t know me. But you might know me a …
Want a More Peaceful 2021?
Loosen the Iron Grip You’ve had on Some of Your Thoughts. January 24, 2021 Believing every thought we think isn’t a problem. Unless we assume our ideas and opinions represent facts. In order to be reasoning, thoughtful, beneficial members of society, we need to see our thoughts for what they are. According to …
Will 2021 Be Better for You than 2020?
One predictor will be how you answer that question. January 9, 2021 Climate change will still be haunting us. Covid-19 isn’t going away any time soon. And the last guy in the oval office will be tweeting once again until he’s been arrested for any one of numerous charges. And even then, I bet …
Is it Possible to Waste Time?
December 26, 2020 Not if You’re a meditator. “In all your life, only a few moments matter. Mostly you never get a good look at them except in hindsight, long after they’ve zipped past you.” From Tana French’s New York Times best-seller, Faithful Place. As a child, I was pretty serious. I thought about big …
Oops!
December 13, 2020 I know this is a departure from my usual Seedlings. It’s just that I’ve wanted to send something light and playful. I hope you enjoy it. Oops! My new favorite word. Oops is a softener; it removes things. Like fabric softener removes wrinkles, oops removes shame. Oops puts a …