I first heard of the RAIN practice in some talks Tara Brach gave in 2014. RAIN sounded like a first-rate self-compassion practice, but in life’s hubbub I never thought of it at times it might have helped. Then Tricycle published an article by Teah Strozer. It was in writing and succinct — clear, easy to […]
New Year, New Promise, New Website
The time has come to say farewell to the favorite of my many websites – Happy Web Diva. This turn-of-heart began ten months ago when I attended a Compassion Institute workshop. To my surprise, over dinner the first night I said aloud one of those tender, secret thoughts — in this case that I was […]
Dabble In Delight
Dec. 11th This morning, on a marvelous walk at Radnor Lake — cold, crystal blue sky, no wind and thus a perfect reflection of trees in a pond — my dear friend Denise reminded me of Ross Gay’s Book of Delights. On his 42nd birthday, Gay committed “to write a daily essay about something delightful.” This […]
Guerilla Compassion
Toward the end of my “bad years,” when I was discovering the astonishing power of compassion, I stumbled across a practice called, of all things, “guerilla compassion.” So I gave it a whirl. Not only was it easy to do, it was healing. Amazing. Mostly I did it in airports or waiting for friends at […]
The Bud Stands for All Things
The bud stands for all things, even for those things that don’t flower, for everything flowers, from within, of self-blessing; though sometimes it is necessary to reteach a thing its loveliness…. Galway Kinnell Many years ago, during one of those traumatic times life can throw at you, I read these words from Galway Kinnell’s “Saint […]