All the research shows that owning more things doesn’t make any of us truly happier. Meanwhile, a holiday season full of pointless presents that no one really wants destroys our habitat. But there are gifts that can actually increase happiness. That’s why, before Black Friday gets here, I wanted to share with you the amazing […]
What if, instead of women leaning in, men leaned out?
For so long, in the cultural discourse, there has been this idea that, for women to advance as men do, women just need to be more assertive–to act more as men act. The question I have always had is: Why would women want to advance as men do? I mean, of course, women want equal pay and equal […]
Why We Shouldn’t Push Away Feelings
I’ve been thinking about how so many of us find it hard to be in the presence of our feelings. We believe that we should work to make them go away when we have them. Like they are demons to be exorcised. And sometimes, because we find our own feelings uncomfortable we find the feelings […]
Can Waking Up Save The Amazon?
The Amazon and Congo, if you didn’t know, are so important, first, because they are simply precious but, also, because such forests absorb carbon dioxide and emit oxygen. Maintaining robust forests is part of the answer to climate change. That so much of the Amazon and the Congo is ablaze is scary and worrying and […]
How Awe Turns Sadness Into Action
I was walking through the amazing Washington Square Park on my way to lead a meditation for climate activists the other day, and I was feeling so amazed with the trees and the grass and the park. I felt joy. But then I thought, How is it right to feel joy right now when what is […]
How Red Faced Paddy Changed My Life
There is a story I tell about an encounter I had many years ago with a man we called Red Faced Paddy. It was this encounter that taught me that my presumed “superior” understanding or enlightenment never gives me the right to judge–it only gives me the responsibility to help. Anyway, Red Faced Paddy and […]
On The Night Mom Died
I call this one, “Full Moon On The Water On The Night My Mom Died.”
Eulogy To My Mom
Here is a poem that comes from the funeral ceremony of the Zen tradition of which I am a part. It is called The Human Route Coming empty-handed, going empty-handed – that is human.When you are born, where do you come from?When you die, where do you go?Life is like a floating cloud which appears.Death […]