When I was in my freshman year in college, I had a professor of English who liked to start the first class of the semester with the question, “What are the books that changed your life?” Not “What books did you enjoy, or really love,” but “changed your life.” Even as a voracious reader, it took some ... Read More
A WINTER WORLD OF HOLIDAYS
Hanukkah Sameach! Merry Christmas! Habari Gani! Happy Holidays! However we say it—and there are many different ways—the idea of “happy” combined with “holidays” is a very, very old one. But in our consumer-driven culture, the holidays come at us so early, fast and hard that by the time they ... Read More
THANKFULNESS
There’s no getting around it: thankfulness is good for us. Damn! I don’t know about you, but I definitely have days when I just don’t feel all that thankful or grateful, when the guy when sits next to me on the bus drips water all over my previously dry pants, a favorite store is unexpectedly out ... Read More
SAD with the Seasons?
The great Welsh poet Dylan Thomas—yes, that guy, the one that singer/songwriter Bob Dylan took the name from—wrote in his most famous poem, ‘Do not go gentle into that good night. Rage, rage against the dying of the light.” The good night he’s talking about, of course, is death; and he’s advising ... Read More
PEACE IN RECOVERY
PEACE. Pax. Shalom. Salaam. Every language has a word for it. We have images and signs for it, the peace sign being one of the most recognized in the world. There’s the famous song, “Give Peace a Chance.” There’s the Peace Movement and the Peace Corps. And as I write this, this month of August, ... Read More
Sobriety and Spirituality: Keys to Recovery
Are you spiritual, but not religious? If so, you’re in good company. Greater numbers all of people all over the world are identifying themselves this way. And, as a friend of mine said recently, “it’s not a good time to be in the religion business.” He talked about the decline of the churches in ... Read More
Animal Companions On the Path
“Until one has loved an animal, a part of one’s soul remains unawakened.” (Anatole France, French novelist, 1844-1924) The crows were mocking my dad. Growing up in rural Connecticut with all kinds of animals, wild and domestic, I’d had plenty of experience to convince me how smart animals were, ... Read More
Ways of Action
Alan Watts, philosopher and popularizer of Eastern spiritual ideas to the West, observed that “everyone’s a philosopher; most are poor ones.” That is, just in the nature of human life itself, you can’t get away from reaching conclusions concerning “what it’s all about” and the meaning and purpose of ... Read More
“Renewal at Nature’s New Year” (or “Anybody Can Meditate!”)
I’ve never really understood why we make resolutions in the dead of winter, at the darkest, coldest time of the year. Or even why we celebrate the New Year at that time, just because Julius Caesar said so and had the calendar set up that way (before 45 B.C.E., the New Year started in March). The ... Read More
The Neurochemistry of Hope
As I write, it’s one day past the start of Spring, and we’re in the middle of a Nor’easter dumping six inches of snow so far on New York City. So it seems worth reminding ourselves of the old familiar saying of the English poet Alexander Pope, “hope springs eternal.” So, hopefully, will ... Read More