#287 Compassion and Kindness

I don’t know how to be compassionate. I don’t know how to be kind. Well, I do know — kind of. But my compassion and kindness are selective. It’s the election. It’s brought a lot of ugliness out from under the rocks where it’s been hiding. My own included! Last time I...

#286 My Presence

My campaign to TAKE IT UP A NOTCH has so far mostly failed. But I have learned some things about myself. Well, not learned exactly, because I have always known, and even appreciated, this about myself — I tend to be oppositional and confrontative. And, which I have...

#285 Take It Up A Notch

I’m tying a string around my finger now for sure. I have long enjoyed Rob Brezsny’s astrology newsletter. He’s got a quirky style that pleases me, and he sometimes reminds me to pay attention to something that I’ve neglected. His current newsletter tells me to be in...

#284 How to Accept Gladness

I was pondering a line from poet Jack Gilbert, sent to me by a reader: “We must have the stubbornness to accept our gladness in the ruthless furnace of this world.” I was wondering about the ruthless furnace of this world and all the forms it takes, and how to stay...

#283 Never Pass Up an Opportunity

I said to a friend, who was complaining about something his wife wanted — never pass up an opportunity to be generous! I say it to people who are appalled that I give roadside beggars money — never pass up an opportunity to be generous. I’ll say it again and again —...

#282 Gratitude+Curiosity

Sometimes I find myself wanting to CONTROL the outcome of a situation. Usually that takes some form of OBSESSING about the situation; some form of I WANT TO KNOW! That certainly is not helpful to me, nor has it ever proven to help a situation. Now, instead of...