Discovery
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One taxi, two taxi, three taxi then four. Taxi (Life) Lessons in Portugal
Taxis: the good, the bad, and the ugly When Ron and I travel in a foreign country, we rarely use taxis, so the whole experience of using them is a bit “foreign” to me. We’re usually driving, riding the train, or just walking. But when I recently went to Portugal by myself, I had planned…
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Weeping Loons
I have a nostalgic memory, both pleasant and painful, that occurred a couple years ago. I was sitting on the porch of our most heavenly cabin enjoying a strong summer rain storm. The Loons came to me and wept. There had been a squall, unlike anything I had ever seen. I love water, I love…
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Race and Self Esteem
I just read a wonderful piece in this month’s National Geographic’s Special Issue: Black and White, April 2018. At least one piece, “Skin Deep” by Elizabeth Kolbert, indirectly brings us to the notion of self-esteem and personal development. From a rather simple scientific premise Kolbert hypnotically leads us to a more solid acceptance of ourselves…
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What To Expect
We built a new website. The old one, good, but dated, was begging us to update. “Too many words” it kept saying. The new one is much more streamlined. In one central space, our builder asked us to provide a picture of “what to expect”, suggesting a picture of one of our offices. Okay, that’s…
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Happiness II: Pleasure and Joy
This is the second of two blogs on happiness, the first being on “Wanting and Liking.” Here I want to discuss the experiences of pleasure and joy. Know, however, that all four of these words (wanting, liking, pleasure, joy), and probably many more, are approximate ways of understanding this feeling of happiness. We know a…
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Happiness I: Wanting and Liking
This is the first of two articles on “happiness”. The second one will be on “joy and pleasure.” Wanting, liking, joy, and pleasure all can lead to happiness, the seeking of happiness, and the finding of happiness. This article is on the difference between wanting and liking, which are both related to finding happiness in…
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Alive
“I will not let you die”. This is what my inner voice said to me this morning, sweating like an ox in hot yoga. I was holding the tree pose facing the mirrored wall noticing how curly my hair was in full body sweat when I heard the words. It isn’t important for me to…
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Why me? Why NOT?!
September 16, 2013: Why me? Why NOT?! A most wonderful woman returned to my office this week after not seeing her for close to 13 years. Long story short, she was dealing with “how good life is” and what is wrong with that? Funny, I thought, here is a woman who, after having gone through…
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Mindfulness: the Here and Now
July 19, 2013 Here and Now, i.e. mindfulness: I had a client (mother of a young child) ask me today if I had done “mindfulness stuff” with my kids. I laughed and told her how we started a nude beach once and then suggested that it probably counted as mindfulness training. Mindfulness, or self-acceptance and…
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A Good Day to Die
July 11, 2013 – There is only one thing to say of today: I am surprised I am yet alive. There are numerous evenings, when Ron and I, sitting with our glass of wine, toast that it has been a good day to die, which of course, makes it a good day to live, and vise…