There is Something You Can Do
Most weeks, I don’t know what I’m going to say in this newsletter. I sit down, take a breath, and see what comes. I tried that twice already this week. [...]
Wide Awake in a Burning World
Though I am hundreds of miles away in the Pacific Northwest, I haven’t been able to focus on much this week as the fires have raged in Los Angeles and [...]
My Yearly Reading Entreaty
Happy New Year, friends! I am coming back from almost three weeks off where I did nothing notable. I didn’t write this newsletter, I didn’t go on any epic adventures, [...]
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 [...]
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.” [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
Life Purpose at Any Age
I recently listened to Julia Louis Dreyfuss interview Jane Goodall. Julia asks Jane how it feels to be 90 and Jane says, “Well, I know what my mission on this [...]