Food for Life
“Some of us,” writes Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh, “while looking at a piece of carrot, can see the whole cosmos in it, can see the sunshine in it, can see the earth in it. It has come from the whole cosmos for our nourishment.” It’s Spring, redolent with jasmine, wet earth and new beginnings. […]
Learning to Listen
Parenting coach Nikki Bush tells the story of one of her young sons, who embarked on a discussion about God in the middle of the morning sandwich-making rush. “You have to be so quick with children,” she laughs. “Important conversations seldom happen when it’s absolutely convenient for the parent, and putting them off usually means […]
Wonder Woman: Celebrating Life
From weddings to funerals, from fasting to ecstatic dancing, throughout history humankind has attempted to find ways to make sense of our lives through symbolic gestures.
In Pursuit of Perfection
The world seems awash with hearts and flowers this month, and the American Greeting Card Association estimates that in excess of one billion Valentine’s Cards are sent each year. "With all that romantic idealism floating around, it’s not an easy time of the year to be single," a young woman said to me the other […]
Being In the Moment
Last month we spoke about using the vibrancy of our five senses to give us guidance in making positive choices. Slowing down to pay attention to the world around us through our senses is about mindfulness, and being in the present moment. In the craziness of the information age where success is measured by being […]
From Mystery to Mastery
In last month’s column we looked at getting clear about what it is that we want to experience, be or do in order to move our lives forward in some way. This month I’d like to look at how specifically that moving forward might happen. Very often, the biggest hurdle in taking on something unknown […]
Wonder Woman: Living on Purpose
For many people the global events of recent years have triggered a new appreciation of how precious life is, and yet how uncertain. More and more people are talking about wanting quality of life; and somehow making the changes that will allow them to experience this.
The Essence of Heaven
It all began with the midwife. During a discussion about adoption, surrogacy and other variations on the theme of motherhood, she asked the group of women seated around her what they thought made a parent.
Wonder Woman: Truths About Life
The Four Noble Truths taught by the Buddha began with "Life is suffering". A great and profound truth, if not a particularly encouraging one! It’s easy to be optimistic and focused when everything is going well, but a lot more challenging to hold on to that when things get difficult.
Wonder Woman: The Good We All Search For
"Love is the good we all search for," wrote psychologist Robert Karen. And yet a lot of the time, we’re searching for something we don’t really understand: is love that heady mixture of anticipation and anxiety we get when we "fall" in love? Is love about dependency and believing that "I can’t live without him […]
Wonder Woman: New Beginnings
It’s that time of year when what has been makes way for what is to come … we wish each other a Happy New Year, hoping that this year will be better, happier or easier than the last.
Wonder Woman: The Inspiration of Memory
All over the world rivers have been guided away from their natural courses in order to make dwelling space for people. Inevitably, after a short time or a long time, the river will make its way back to where it was. "They call it flooding," says writer Toni Morrison, "but the river is not flooding […]