Fashion commentator Emily Chou observes “Every time you dress, you’re making choices and even an “I-don’t-care” message...
Spiritual Practices10
Slowing Down To The Speed Of Wisdom
GUEST POST by JUDITH NILAN When people join me on pilgrimage in Ireland, it’s a choice to step away from the rhythms of a busy life and slow down to a rhythm of deep listening and meditation. With the pandemic, we have been gifted that opportunity not by our own choosing. But here we are. And in this slowing down, within these new rhythms, [...]
Pat Taub
Enlarging the Corner
GUEST POST by MICHAEL STEINMAN Every morning, Benjamin Franklin asked himself, “What good shall I do today?” My answers are variations on a theme: spread joy, be kind, think of others. For nearly six decades, my pole star has been Louis Armstrong, who made people happier, who gave generously of himself. His joy, his art, and his livelihood [...]
Pat Taub
A Nurse’s Lessons in Kindness
This holiday season where good will seems in short supply, we owe it to our loved ones and our communities to be agents of kindness. A wonderful guide for the practice of kindness is the book The Language of Kindness by Christie Watson. In the holiday rush your reading time is probably at a premium, so allow me to acquaint you with Watson’s [...]
Pat Taub
Awakening to Bliss
GUEST POST by MARGIE MARTIN CAMPBELL Have you ever felt blissful on a hot summer afternoon when the air was so still you could only get a very small breeze by swinging in the old porch swing? The one that Grandpa built all those years ago before you were born. Sure, the house windows are up with screens in place to “let a little air [...]
Pat Taub
Finding My Bliss
GUEST POST by EMMA MACAILLEN I am unsure that I ever find my bliss. I think it finds me. I do sense that there are preconditions in order for it to present itself. Perhaps I need to get out of my own way in order for that to happen, or at least “out of my mind.” I think bliss is a state of the awakened heart. I have glimpses [...]
Pat Taub
Aging With Eyes Wide Open
There seem to be three basic ways most of us adapt to aging: with our eyes shut, with our eyes half open, or with our eyes wide open. The first group consists of those in denial about aging, like women who protest, “Don’t ever call me old!” The second group is where most of us fall; some days we acknowledge our aging and plan for [...]
Pat Taub
Survival Tips for 2019
When someone wishes me “Happy New Year” I’m tempted to respond, “What’s to be happy about given all the bad news in the country?” We’re faced with a government shutdown, record numbers of migrant families held in cages, a mustached war hawk Presidential advisor and massive social and income inequality. Once I settle down I realize [...]
Pat Taub
Bomb Scares, Spiritual Tools, Being a Bad Patient & More!
The Craziness Mounts Egads, what a scary week: pipe bombs delivered to Trump’s major targets while he responds by blaming “fake news” rather than recognizing his hate speech is the real impetus for the growing hate in our country—but what else is new? It will be interesting to see if the bomb scares create a midterm backlash [...]
Pat Taub
A Self-Care Skeptic
I had a lousy week. I fractured my foot. I was freaked out by the more-depressing-than-usual headlines of amped-up hate speech, of an American journalist being brutally murdered by the Saudis, of rampant voter suppression and on and on. There seemed to be no end to bad news. To lift my spirits I tried the familiar self-care suggestions. [...]
Pat Taub
Count Basie, My Spiritual Guide
Guest Post by Michael Steinman I used to think of the pianist, composer, bandleader Count Basie, whose birthday was August 21st, as a monumental figure of the jazz I love. Maybe he is no more to readers than a dimly remembered figure. As I’ve aged, though, I think of him as a spiritual guide – not in anything he said, but in the spacious [...]
Pat Taub