Giving Up? Or Giving In?
In a conversation with a client about resistance the other day, it became clear to me that they had some confusion about the difference between acceptance and surrender. Though it’s common to confuse one with the other, they’re not really the same.
An Argument With a Ghost
Like most of us, I have a few relationships that seem to be more difficult than they need to be. One is with a brother who hasn’t spoken to me for twenty-six years. Over the years, I’ve made several attempts to get things to a better place between us, but I never heard back from him. It’s even strange to say we have a relationship. At this point, the only active relationship I have with him exists as a thought in the form of a memory, which is to say, a thought carried through time. The same is true for him. The only active relationship he has with me is based entirely in thought and memory.
What’s Sacred in Your World? Nothing, or Everything?
Until I was somewhere in my sixties, I lived in a world where almost nothing was sacred. There were a few things that seemed to me were obviously, absolutely sacred, but they were far outnumbered by what didn’t seem sacred. That seemed obvious to me, too. It’s funny how what seems obviously true at one point in your life seems just as obviously false at another point in your life.
Why Do We Hesitate to Express the Very Thing We’re All Made Of?
The last few weeks, I’ve been simultaneously navigating the effects of several health challenges. A nagging cough and cold, an ear infection, and the after-effects of oral surgery. It’s been a bit of a slog, and I knew enough to expect very little of myself because I was so completely drained by it.
The Slowest Ride I’ve Ever Taken
The last few weeks, I’ve been simultaneously navigating the effects of several health challenges. A nagging cough and cold, an ear infection, and the after-effects of oral surgery. It’s been a bit of a slog, and I knew enough to expect very little of myself because I was so completely drained by it.
A Different Kind of Loneliness
The loneliness many of us experience has nothing to do with the presence or absence of other people. The loneliness I’m speaking of is a symptom of not feeling at home in ourselves. Our remedy for that is to be with other people. The only reason that seems to work is because when we’re with other people, we lose ourselves in our co-joined presence. When that happens, we don’t feel lonely because we experience being something bigger than ourselves.
The Deepest Gratitude Comes From One Source
Recently, I’ve noticed something about gratitude that’s brand new for me. For years, it’s been easy for me to feel grateful for almost anything I happen to notice, but the sense of gratitude I felt was always attached to a specific thing. I might have felt grateful for something as small as the way the light changed on a cloudy day, or hearing my cat Munchkin purring in the middle of the night, or a cool breeze on a warm day.
How I Found a New Singing Voice at 70
A dear friend of mind has a particular gift. He’s long been acclaimed as being the sort of singing voice that comes along less than once in a generation. His renditions of some of the songs he sang in Broadway shows are recognized as the defining recordings of those songs.
A Lesson in Resilience From an Injured Butterfly
There’s a plant in my garden called Buddleia. Its common name is Butterfly Bush, and it lives up to that name because, once its flowers come out, butterflies (and certain moths) swarm to it. I live in a place with cold winters, and I used to have to re-plant it every year. Because our winters have gotten warmer, this spring, I noticed the one I planted last year had re-sprouted.
Fall in Love With Every Breath, Every Word, Every Action
Not long ago, after I finished my work for the day, I took a walk along the country road I live on. There are few people or cars on the road, I usually sing when I’m walking, and I don’t need to hold it in. I give myself over to it, I sing at volume, and I enjoy myself enormously.