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When my grandmother turned eighty, we decided to move her into a senior living facility.  It was a tough transition.  Edie naturally had a lot of sadness and apprehension about the move, as any elderly person would.  Can you imagine assimilating into a new community at that stage of life? You’re out of practice making friends, feeling shy about being the new kid, and coming into a strange environment…

Getting sick can be painful.  But getting angry and frustrated at ourselves for being sick, that can be suffering.  Because it’s an extra layer of resistance and confusion and despair that we create in reaction to our pain, which actually compounds the hurt and makes us feel worse than we really are.  My own needs insult me. I’m not crying because the stomach bug hurts, I’m crying because I’m the kind…

For many centuries, much of human behavior has been driven by the fear of becoming an outcast from the herd.  Our primitive instincts remind us to keep the spirits happy, keep the tribe’s nest warm and safe, and show allegiance to the chief and the clan.  Lest we’re banished into the wilderness to go die a horrible death.  But in the past few decades, there’s been a shift. Now…

People want to be strong.  They want to figure things out on their own and decide for themselves what a good course of action is.  And so, we have to prepare ourselves for their stubbornness. Because in order for them to come to their own conclusions, they’re going to conduct exhaustive research. They’re going to question and reject all expert opinions. And they’re going to do whatever else it takes to…

It pains me to say it, but our friendship is running on fumes.  Our conversations are loaded with quips, but short on heart. Few new memories are being made anymore. And whenever we get together, we spend most of the time looking in the rear view mirror.  Because despite our history together, we no longer have anything in common.  Our paths have parted in different directions.  The good news…

Carlin used to do a brilliant comedy routine about hair.  He would complain about guys who shaved their heads completely bald. They were so ashamed that they lost eleven hairs that they tried to transform their look into some kind of masculine statement.  George said: Shaving your head is ugly and repulsive and disgusting. If you really want to have no hair, do what I did. Wait a while. In the…

Burnt is a movie that performed dimly at the box office and received terrible reviews from critics and audience members alive.  Personally, I thought it was the most inspiring and accurate movie about the creative process that I’ve seen in years.  Chef says it beautifully as he shares his vision for what he thinks food should be.  People eat because they’re hungry. I want to make food that makes people stop eating….

There are numerous reasons to get good at ritual, routine and regularity.  One of them is to be help us calmly and confidently cope with life’s abrupt changes.  You know, the ones that come about unfairly and without much warning. Like when we’re suddenly thrown into a new job or city or living situation or work environment.  Here’s a list of tasks that are completely outside of your skill…

After suffering a collapsed lung in my mid twenties, keeping my life as light as possible has become an important goal.  Because I now know how it feels to be literally crushed under the weight of my own stress. After spending a week in the hospital with a breathing tube in my chest, frankly, I’m no longer interested in making each day heavier than it needs to be. I’m…

Anyone who’s ever lived in a big city has extensive experience coping with subway delays.  They’ve suffered from spending long stretches gazing into the tunnel, praying to see the light of an oncoming train.  As if staring down the inky blackness with an angry look on their face would somehow will the subway into existence.  But it never does. No matter how often they check. No matter how late they’re running….