One day in downtown Manhattan, I walked behind a man who laughed, block after block. There would be little lulls when the laughter would glide into happy sighs but then a fresh gale of laughter would kick in, sometimes coupled with jogging and even skipping. At first, this public display of wild happiness delighted the…
Soon after he attained enlightenment, the Buddha went walking. He was probably wild to stretch his legs because he was sitting under his tree for forty days, according to legend (some scholars believe this not a literal number but an ancient expression for “a very long time”—forty days in the desert, at sea, under the…
It feels different to be outside than to be inside. Knowing this distinction seems so basic to consciousness that doctors might ask patients coming out of a coma this question: “Do you know where you are right now? Are you inside or outside?” And yet we forget. All the time. We forget we have been…
Summer reminds me of childhood, does it you? There is something about the smell in the air in the morning that reminds me of climbing trees. There was one tree in particular in the backyard of the house I grew up in that was easy to climb–inviting me, it seemed. It had a limb at…
Deep down most of us know that it is not what happens outside that shapes us so much as our inner responses. There is an ancient African proverb that tells when we have no enemy within, no enemy without can really harm us. Really? Not even a great white shark? But seriously, can this be…
As I write this, it is a beautiful and balmy day in New York. But this doesn’t mean everything is okay. Deadly tornadoes and massive flooding ravage the middle of the country; children separated from parents at our southern border. I could go on. And you may be facing your own trials. Life is so changeable and uncertain. I personally hate this, but life has not asked my opinion. And yet this terrible, unalterable truth about life is an opportunity to investigate what true power is. It is an opportunity to see that wealth, might, even energetic good health might…
