It’s been over a week since I returned from my vipassana meditation retreat. I haven’t fully processed the experience, but I figure it’s time to put some of it down in writing. Vipassana is a ten day, silent retreat. Students are trained in the style of meditation that the Buddha taught. This practice is all […]
Tag Archives: love
28
Jun
Jun
Every day we walk around with our hearts tugged in different directions. At any one moment, my heart can open up into love or close off in self-protection. It’s scary to live in openness all the time because that means we can really be hurt. What happened in Orlando this month is proof enough that […]
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How we Give in Relationships
20
Apr
Apr
Growing up, I’m sure I didn’t understand all that my parents sacrificed to give me the blessed life I had. I couldn’t be aware of the hours of sleep they gave up to care for me as a newborn, the way my mother’s body ceased being her own and became a vessel for my nourishment, […]
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We are Loving Awareness
13
Apr
Apr
What draws me to buddhist philosophy is the belief that the nature of our souls is gentle. When I held my nephew for the first time, what I knew about him beyond a doubt was that his nature was love. I continue to be reassured of this because each time I see him, I am […]
21
Mar
Mar
My sister and her husband brought a new life into our family ten months ago. It has been nothing but wonderful to watch my nephew blossom before my eyes. Every time I’m with him, I witness the new things he is learning and how happy he is to be a part of it all. It’s […]
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Looking Inward
10
Mar
Mar
If today you woke up and recognized your full worth, what would you do differently? If you accepted that you have needs in your relationships, what would you ask for? If you could repair any hurt, what would it be? If you owned your strength, what would it tell you to let go of? If […]
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Living in the Moment
04
Feb
Feb
Why is being in the moment so hard? Because it’s uncomfortable Because it’s unpleasant Because we could mess it all up Because it’s not what we want Because it reopens old wounds Because we know it won’t last Because it can never be repeated Because it might never feel this way again Because it could […]
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Do I Matter to You?
14
Jan
Jan
A commonly unspoken feeling in family life is, “Do I matter to you?” It might sound strange that people sharing a home and a last name could question that of each other, but in the work I do, I see this question all the time implied, without being explicitly asked. I’ll give you an example. […]
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Listening Deeply
29
Dec
Dec
Why is listening so hard? Because it means we will hear things we don’t agree with. Because we will fight the impulse to share the “correct point of view.” Because we want to fix it for the other rather than share in their emotion. Because we can’t let them get away with that. Because we […]
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Falling in Love With Life
16
Dec
Dec
I find myself almost daily falling deeper in love with life. It’s a little odd for me to say that I’m in love with life because I know that I still feel pain. The holidays were once effortlessly happy, and I never understood why people moped around saying, “The holidays are tough.” Yet in the […]