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.
Holding Back The River of Love
At any moment, on any day of your life, love is flowing through you like a river. It’s as automatic as breathing, and just like you may sometimes hold your breath without realizing it, it’s likely you hold back that flow of love without knowing you’re doing it.
I Feel Younger Today Than I Ever Have
Fifty years ago, when I was in my early twenties, I remember going for a hike in the hills above U.C. Berkeley. The trails up into those hills are very steep, so I was surprised when I met an old man on the trail (he was about the age I am now). He had a sense of sheer aliveness that I wasn’t used to seeing in people his age. We got to talking, and I still remember the conversation.
Why Are We Always Seeking and Resisting?
Two activities take up huge pieces of our lives, and both of them can easily fly under the radar of our conscious attention. The activities are seeking and resisting. Any time you dislike or resent what you’re doing, or the experience you’re having, you’re in resistance. And the strangest thing of all is what you’re resisting: life itself, life as it is.
Does Your View of Life Support You?
Enormous parts of our lives go completely unexamined. For instance, have you ever given any thought to whether your view of life supports you? And if you’ve ever stopped to wonder about this, how would you even know if life were supporting your worldview?
The Unforeseen Gifts of a Total Eclipse
A week ago, a childhood dream was fulfilled when I was wrapped in the immersive experience of a total eclipse. I read about eclipses when I was about seven, so that means I waited sixty-five years to see it. It was everything it possibly could have been, but the real gift of the day turned out to have nothing to do with the eclipse itself.
How to Give Yourself a Break
Giving yourself a break always sounds like a great idea, doesn’t it?
Why, then, are we so infinitely creative in finding ways to postpone it?
To be clear, what I’m talking about is being a little easier on ourselves than most of us tend to be. It occurs to me part of our genius for putting this off has to do with the notion that we’re just not quite ready to do it yet. Unfortunately, this feeling of not being ready can go on almost indefinitely.