The day my father died, suddenly, of a heart attack, I wanted to be the one to tell my son, who was six years old at the time, what happened. I sat down on the sofa, took Truman’s hands in mine, and told him his grandfather had died. I explained what that meant—that we wouldn’t see him anymore but would…
The value of mindfulness for promoting compassion for others and ourselves has drawn a lot of attention in recent years. And few have done more to help people bring self-compassion into their lives than Christopher Germer, Ph.D. A founding member of the Institute for Meditation and Psychotherapy, Dr. Germer has led countless mindfulness workshops and is the author of one…
A number of years ago, my partner and I moved into a fixer-upper. I saw the potential of the inside—the good bones of the small but well-built house. He saw the rocks and woods and graceful space around the house—a little under two acres but completely suffocated by trees of every size, and no sunlight. I was frenzied. I had…
People collect many types of things, for many reasons. My choice is rhinos—that is, rhino figurines. It’s an odd thing to collect, I guess, judging from the bemused reactions I get when guests see them perched around my house. I’d like to say I began accumulating them to support their protection (they are in danger of extinction), but that wasn’t…
In our age of overbearing parents and high school students driven to the point of exhaustion because they define success by the number of extracurriculars on their resumes, it’s no wonder the life of an adolescent has sped up light-years. Fifty years ago, being young was associated with contemplation and rebellion, but today the free time needed for such luxuries…
It was the fifth time that George Mason University hosted the conference on “Leading to Well-Being” but my first visit, and I’m so glad I attended! The goal of the conference is to explore “the innovative intersections of leadership and well-being” and it far surpassed my expectations. This year’s theme was Thriving Together “to inspire human flourishing throughout the world…
When I was a teen growing up outside New York City, my mom was a big country and western fan. I remember the collective groans from my brother, Bret, and me as she ferried us and our friends to after-school activities to the honky-tonk sounds of what I heard as hillbilly twang. One of my mom’s favorite songs was about…
Esalen, a storied getaway perched above the thundering waves of the central California coast, was the setting for the second annual Esalen Inspirational Film Festival. While the resort itself is a powerful motivator for self-reflection and renewal, the festival played its part with a week of memorable images, skilled storytelling, and constant reminders that human beings are remarkably resilient. Woven…
