The rice paddies that stretch out from the house are flooded now, reflecting the sky with big puff-ball clouds that turn pink, then orange, then white as the morning sun rises. Read More

The new year often brings with it an overabundance of hopeful resolutions, lofty goals, and well-intentioned promises to live better, eat healthier, and improve various aspects of oneself and one’s life…

Almost always, when we reach the other side of a difficult time, there’s a place we rest and say, “Whew, glad that’s over.” It might be a divorce, a battle with the IRS, a year of financial torture or intense grief…

Recently one morning, I opened a word-for-the-day type of email. The word for that day was ‘metanoia’, a noun defined as a transformative change of heart; especially a spiritual conversion…

You imagine ahead to your traditional dinner: you know what you will be eating, you know who you will be celebrating with, you know where you will be – but suddenly your heart drops. This year there will be an empty chair round that table. Read More

Jill was in the kitchen, right in the middle of making cookies. I’d been at their house for about a week, which is typical around Christmas, when I spend my annual two weeks at their home in Eastern Washington. Read More

Do you have a friend who always tries new things and invites you to tag along? “It could be fun,” she says, and it’s true. It could be great! You hope that finally, at this age, you will find your “Prince Talent…”

Early this morning, I got up to do my exercises and mediation before heading to the airport for my annual Christmas visit at my best friend’s family’s house in Spokane, WA. Before I put the last bits and pieces in my luggage for the long drive to the airport, I checked my inbox. Read More

Christmas, much like the other holidays, is a time when people look forward to the comforting nature of tradition, but when a death happens, the tradition is disrupted. Read More

Some time ago, I got an email from Margaret Manning asking what I did to break out of my comfort zone. Since I received that email while here in Ethiopia, I had a good chuckle…