All week I’ve been thinking about the starfish story. If you don’t know what I’m talking about, keep listening. I've been thinking about that story and what it means for my life, for the writing I do. How making a difference doesn't have to be something grandiose in order to be meaningful. 

I had a conversation with a friend this weekend and was reminded that believing in materialism is a choice. We in the West take it for granted that materialism is the most scientific, rational way of being and that conversely, spirituality is unscientific and irrational. But is that really true? More in this week's post.

Instead of feeling sad about the pandemic, now I'm PISSED. And at the same time I'm also grateful for things that have happened as a result. Life is complicated. Or in other words, nuanced. More in this week's post. 

There are people in the U.S. who only identify with people who look like them, act like them, think like them. And for those who don’t, they’re demonized and denigrated. They are not a part of the “in” group. No one, myself included, is immune from groupism and it takes commitment to keep expanding the boundary of your identity. However, whenever I think about the world I want to live in, it always hinges on universalism and cooperation. It always hinges on seeing myself in others.

So how do we do that? For the first time I've recorded an audio meditation that I hope will help you to expand the radius of your love. 

I’m freaked out by the upcoming election and I know I’m not the only one. Democrats are worried Republicans will win. Republicans are worried Democrats will win. We are all watching this election closely. I don’t have any advice about that but what I can say is regardless of what happens, I feel soothed thinking about something I learned recently. It's called the 3.5% rule.

This week I’ve seethed with envy multiple times. That’s nothing new and if you’ve been listening this blog for a while you know I semi-regularly feel envy, especially regarding my career. When I see someone who has what I want, I don’t view it as a sign that I, too, can achieve what they achieved. I know I’m supposed to, but what can I say? I’m a flawed human being.

As I’ve wrestled with the feeling of envy this week, a story kept coming to mind that I shared with numerous friends about traveling to Italy. More in this week's post.

You know that phrase, "Hitch your wagon to a star?" It's come to mean attach yourself to someone who is successful or famous in the hopes you'll become the same. I usually think of myself as the wagon and never the star. However, I'm coming to realize I don't need to hitch my wagon to anyone else because I'm my own star! More in this week's post. 

This past week I canceled a trip to Washington, D.C. I had planned for later this month. It was somehow the watershed moment for me as I’ve realized how much this year has taken from all of us. I’ve cried so many times this week. And at the same time this period is highlighting for me how precious time is. More in this week's post.

We don’t know what’s true anymore. And what’s so chilling is the inability to distinguish truth from untruth is by design as I learned recently from watching the documentary/drama The Social Dilemma. This week's post addresses that film so if you'd rather be surprised, don't listen!

I want to see people punished for their crimes but my spiritual teacher also says we don’t have the right to punish someone we do not love, and furthermore, the amount of punishment meted out must not exceed the amount of love we feel. Yikes. Why is that? More in this week's post.