what do you have to give?
A speaker at a conference I attended advised people to give people anything they asked for a day and watch what happened inside and out. He was encouraging people to play around with the idea of generosity. Generosity is one of the Buddhist paramitas. The way I...
What attitudes and actions support you?
When I’m feeling uncertain, I reach for structure. (Twenty years ago, in the days immediately following the 9/11 terrorist attacks, I cleaned my house. I realized after the fact that I was imposing order where I could on a disordered world.) Recent health challenges...
Lessons from the latest hospitalization (with journaling prompts)
before they flitter away, I wanted to capture some of the lessons I think the latest hospitalization (four nights last week) brought with it. I don’t mean the practical, body care tasks, but rather the soft skills I want to cultivate as part of my well-being. 1. Ask...
Asking for help builds strength
Asking for help is a counter-cultural activity right from the start. It requires awareness of my own needs and limitations. The dominant US, culture is steeped in the myth of the rugged individualist, independent and self-sufficient. That cowboy doesn’t need help. I...
Asking for help invites relationship
We humans are a social species. We weren’t meant to survive or thrive on our own. Unfortunately, we (especially Americans) have created mythic heroes that are rugged individualists. They don’t need anybody. It’s a lonely life. Those of us who live with illness can’t...
Generosity journaling prompts
Good news: as we move into what we hope is a post-pandemic era, we each get to define what that looks like. Everything was disrupted. Now we have an opportunity to build back better (to borrow a phrase from our new president). What do you want to let go of? Where do...
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