No Grand Gestures
I’m going to be a real scrooge here for a minute and say that I dislike many videos, memes, and social media stories that highlight grand gestures. Heroic, expensive, time-intensive overtures like surprise vacations, huge [...]
Surviving and Staying Warm
Happy Advent, friends! In the Christian liturgy, Advent is the season leading up to Christmas Day. It’s a season of preparation and waiting. Advent is from the Latin “to come.” I now identify as a [...]
Bad Luck. Good Luck. Who Knows?
I heard Susan Piver talk recently about the “three poisons” in Buddhist teaching—what we reach for when things fall apart. One of them is “aggression.” This doesn’t mean resisting things that are harmful. She says [...]
Without You There is No Me
I was reminded this week of the concept of ubuntu which Desmond Tutu popularized: We are only who we are thanks to other people. This stands in stark contrast to almost every other message I’ve [...]
Being With It
I’m writing less than 24 hours after the election was called. If I didn’t owe my wonderful assistant Robin this newsletter by tonight, I’d be tempted to hide out. I wouldn’t fault myself or any [...]
Making Room for Grief this Election Season
It’s a big week for all of us. I haven’t used this platform to talk about the election, but it’s too much on my mind this week to pretend I’m thinking about anything else! I’m [...]