For last year's words belong to last year's language. And next year's words await another voice. — T.S. Eliot Another year is upon us. Isn't it amazing? It feels like just yesterday that I was embarking on 2018 and preparing to launch I've Been Thinking... into the world. At the t...
Christmas is a holiday that we celebrate not as individuals nor as a nation, but as a human family. — Ronald Reagan Every year, just a few days before Christmas, my family and I sit down in our home with a minister friend and focus on the true meaning of the season. It’s one of th...
The spiritual path is not a solo endeavor. In fact, the very notion of a self who is trying to free her/himself is a delusion. We are in it together and the company of spiritual friends helps us realize our interconnectedness. — Tara Brach Last week, as I was sitting in the back of the ...
Ten years ago I was working in hospice as a bereavement counselor when I became pregnant with my first child. I spent my days driving around the snowy suburbs meeting with patients and families who were grappling with the end of life. I would wake up in the morning, scan my list of patients...
“How far that little candle throws its beams! So shines a good deed in a weary world.” – William Shakespeare We light candles to momentarily suspend time; to become present in the miraculous moments. Candle lighting can be so much more than just a pretty glow or lovely scent. Setting in...
YIELD: 24-30 1-inch Balls / Gluten Free Prep time: 5 minutes to mix; 10-20 minutes to form balls and roll. Ingredients Dates, pitted (soft Medjool dates are best!) 1 pound Almond butter, raw ...
Holiday traditions have always made my heart beat a little faster—not with excitement, but with stress. Growing up as the seventh of eight children, I spent every December struggling to find gifts and make treats for everyone in the family. Things got easier when I started my own small, nu...
Every man's life ends the same way. It is only the details of how he lived and how he died that distinguish one man from another. — Ernest Hemingway There are some weeks when I wait until the very end to write my “I’ve Been Thinking…” essay for The Sunday Paper. That’s becaus...
Stephanie Wittels Wachs was devastated after losing her brother Harris, a star comedian known for his work on shows like Parks and Recreation, to a heroin overdose. In her new book Everything is Horrible and Wonderful: A Tragicomic Memoir of Genius, Heroin, Love, and Loss, Stephanie pain...
According to researcher Manfred F. R. Kets de Vries, empty time is one of the best things we can do for our mental health, for several reasons. It can be an incubation period for future bursts of creativity, he posited in a paper on this subject, and, it can also be when we start to deal with ...
