When we are in pain, we need to hear, “I hear you, I see you, I am sorry, what can I do, I am here for you” and not “Think of how worse it could be, be grateful for all the good things in your life, and even this too shall pass”. Because truth be told—none of that helps. The hidden message behind all … Read More True Compassion
Our obsession with our happiness has contributed to our unhappiness. -Tal Ben Shahar I don’t think I’m alone in admitting that I dislike suffering. While I might theoretically understand the benefits of suffering—the wisdom gained, the empathy learned from connecting to the collective human experience, and the deep and personal growth available on the other side, I’d be lying if I didn’t say … Read More Permission to be Human
I have come to believe in fact that Creativity and Fear are conjoined twins; they share all the same organs, and they cannot be separated without killing them both. I think fear gets a bad rap. The minute that creeping, dark and sticky feeling sinks into our gut or whispers in our ear, we usually shut down and we take it as … Read More The Creative Life
I am not what happened to me, I am what I choose to become. -Carl Jung I admit it. I’m a binge-reader, and whether my current fascination is with Sylvia Plath or narcissism or the global economy, I read everything I can get a hold of. Lately, it’s been fear, which probably has something to do with my son (whom I am extremely … Read More Take it easy…
By a mad miracle I go intact Among the common rout Thronging sidewalk, street, And bickering shops: Nobody blinks a lid, gapes, Or cries that this raw flesh Reeks of the butcher’s cleaver… -Sylvia Plath, from “Street Song” My heart breaks as I read this. My heart breaks for Sylvia Plath, for me, for anyone who has ever exiled their pain. This … Read More Coming Out of Exile
I know now that these conquerors, like many others before them, and no doubt like others after, gave the speeches not to voice the truth, but to create it. -Laila Lalami, “The Moor’s Account” While Laila Lalami’s beautifully written fictional memoir about a Moroccan slave explores the themes of racism and greed, what struck me when I read this sentence, was the power … Read More Beautiful Truths
I used to spend my nights out in a barroom Liquor was the only love I’ve known But you rescued me from reachin’ for the bottom And brought me back from being too far gone You’re as smooth as Tennessee whiskey You’re as sweet as strawberry wine You’re as warm as a glass of brandy And honey, I stay stoned on your love all … Read More Stoned on Love
Since he belonged, even at the age of six, to that great clan which cannot keep this feeling separate from that, but must let future prospects, with their joys and sorrow, cloud what is actually at hand, since to such people even in earliest childhood any turn in the wheel of sensation has the power to crystallize and transfix the moment upon which its … Read More Half-full
…When you move I’m put to mind of all I wanna be When you move I could never define all that you are to me So move me, baby Shake the bough of a willow tree You do it naturally Move me, baby -Hozier, from “Movement” This morning I watched a man hug trees. Just north of Gordon Beach, there is a part of … Read More Flawed and Free
Trouble, trouble, trouble all about my soul As soon as my feet touch down I won’t be in trouble no more. -Cary Ann Heart, from “Trouble About my Soul” A few days ago on my morning walk, this song appeared on my playlist. A suggestion from my daughter, I’d never heard it before, but the song resonated profoundly—partially because I heard the lyrics incorrectly. … Read More Trouble No More
He had never been so anxious for the arrival of a woman he did not want to see. -David Foster Wallace, Infinite Jest It’s difficult to find a more visceral description of the horrors of addiction than in David Foster Wallace’s Infinite Jest. Wallace’s character is frustrated with his addiction to marijuana, so he repeatedly tried to quit—which amounts to smoking up the … Read More An expansive life!
I’ve been watching stars rely on the darkness they resist. And fish struggle with and against the current. And hawks glide faster when their wings don’t move. Still I keep retelling what happens will it comes out the way I want. We try so hard to be the main character when it is our point of view that keeps us from the truth. The … Read More It’s Actually Very Good!
