“There are two ways that disease outbreaks can change us. The first is through reflection. As anyone who has ever had a cold has realized, illness lends itself to introspection. John Donne was suffering from fever when he wrote his famous ode to cooperation—and possible attack on puritanism—starting, “No Man Is an Island.” Virginia Woolf […]
The central trauma for me has been uncovered recently as a very small number–a core–of basic beliefs about how the world truly has to be. I’ve done work and reading before on identifying and unlocking the central trauma, but I never understood so clearly what I was looking for. The central trauma doesn’t look like […]
Holding a council of selves is something I do a million times a day. When to use a council of selves Any time you have a decision to make with many voices talking in your head about it, most of them contradictory and most of them LOUD. How to use a council of selves Practice with a […]
Because mountains are high and broad, the way of riding the clouds is always reached in the mountains; the inconceivable power of soaring in the wind comes freely from the mountains. There is also a world of sentient beings in clouds. There is a world of sentient beings in the air. Mountains’ walking is just […]
What does our fascination with Get Out’s phenomenal “sunken place” mean? What about our fascination with Stranger Things‘ phenomenal upside-down? Here’s why I’m glad these terrifying places are popular. The upside-down and the sunken place are both capacious: lots of unwilling people are sent there. They can hold a whole alternate reality No one wants […]
This arose at Thanksgiving. I explore it and want to share it. (Exploration in meditation is an easier way of healing oneself than some realize.) Try this exploration to heal wounds around deserving earning receiving giving. It may also help heal resistance fear, and inaction that is due to overwhelm or terror. Thank you for […]
As much as anything else, healing is real. I’m not “sold” on the reality of just about anything, but if anything is real, healing is real. If anything truly ever happens to us that is terrible, painful, hateful, self-hating, ugly, excruciating–healing happens. If healing is as real as anything else, we can decide to claim […]
It’s easy to decide to take on healing to make someone else happy. If someone we love is unhappy with us, many of us will decide we want to get back in their good graces by working on ourselves. I’ve done this and I’ve had people do it toward me. Whether or not it works, […]