In June, I had the rare and humbling opportunity to speak on a panel with three very distinguished Buddhists and peace activists: Colman McCarthy, Hugh Byrne, and Bill Aiken. The panel was part of the first annual BuddhaFest, and there were over 100 people in attendance. I agreed to speak on the panel because a friend of mine recommended me, I was in a good mood when they asked, and I wanted to encourage myself to move out of my comfort zone...
Read MoreSo I have been in a birthday mode lately. In addition to eating good food and cake, there is a tradition of offering good wishes to the birthday celebrant. We say things like: I wish you a happy birthday, I wish you another year of health, or I wish you a relaxing day. And I was thinking about how birthday wishes are a lot like metta, or loving-kindness phrases. Some of the phrases we use for practicing metta are: May you be happy, May you be healthy, and May you live with ease...
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About a month ago, we planted some new lettuce and peas, and were very excited to discover that many of the heartier plants had wintered over and were starting to provide us with chard, mustard greens, spinach and even some very small broccoli.
Read MoreThis morning when our contractor arrived at our house, it made me cry. And it wasn't simply the cost of renovation making me sad. It was my son's move from his old room to a new one that did it. You wouldn't think such a small thing would be so triggering. Standing in my son's room at 7 am this morning, I looked around at all of the stuff that he was letting go--the cowboy rug and cowboy boots, the Goosebumps books...
Read MoreThis morning I saw white crocuses coming up in my neighbor's yard. For me, crocuses are the harbinger of spring, regardless of whether the groundhog saw his shadow or not. When I see their tiny delicate flowers hanging on even more delicate stems, I have faith that the warm weather is on its way, even as I step through mounds of dirty snow.
Read MoreI was lying in my living room the other afternoon, enjoying a fire and the coziness of a warm house in the winter, with the sun shining into the windows. Because of the holidays, we had moved our sofa into a new location, and I had an unusual new perspective of the living room at this hour of the day.
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Last weekend, my dear younger sister came to visit with her husband and her four small children. It was a lovely visit, although one day was dreary and rainy, so I had the bright idea to take the kids to a bowling alley.
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I am sitting in a cabin in the Blue Ridge Mountains looking out into the trees and watching the setting sun. It's so incredibly quiet here. I'm sure you've felt this before,
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I hope that you are enjoying the slow pace of summer and the longer days... I really love when it stays light until 9pm, so I have more time to be outside with friends and family.
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Recently I have been paying more attention to my belly. Not just doing plank pose to try to firm it up, but also practicing softening it.
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