"We don't learn from experiences. We learn from reflecting on the experience".-John DeweyI find myself in the surprising revelation this morning in meditation that to be a participant and a witness in this time of upheaval and change is a curiously horrifying and exhilarating mix. My emotions seem to be everywhere and yet my mind is wide awake. There is horror all around and there is activism, change is in

On Love, Violence and Persuasion

My mom is in the hospital right now. It’s not COVID, but it’s a serious issue. I found out Monday morning, one hour after having a conversation with her about exactly this thing: what would we do if one of us had to go into the hospital, and we could not see each other, or may never see each other again?I was out of my mind with—I’ll name it–terror–for about

Meditation = Good Day

Yesterday a friend told me that his child’s young teenage friend had overdosed on pills in the night, leaving an email in the wee hours to some friends and family, explaining that he was “done,” and it was time for him to go. Luckily, one of those friends was wakeful and saw it in time to save him, but it was a close thing. It made me think of how

A Pleasure-Based Approach to a Forgotten Central Issue in Depression

I feel awful right now. Not physically. Physically I am well, so far. I have no signs of ill health.But I cry every single day. Often more than once. There are days when I am so tired of struggling with it all–the Coronavirus, the world’s political and economic situations, the causes I care about, the hopelessness and the fear and the paranoia and the infighting and the censorship.I used to

Best Kept Secret? We’re Supposed to Feel Awful Right Now