PICK UP ONE SMALL STONE

Thanks for being here! I normally write these moonly missives twice a month, with each New and Full moon, 🌑🌕 happily connecting to the ongoing spiral of beginnings, endings, and beginning again. But, June's New Moon came and went without a newsletter. I started several times. I wrote many words – in fact, I wrote too many words. Ideas were sprawling out in different directions, expanding recklessly like the morning glory vine that threatens to take over my garden. I left th

An invitation to embodied joy. Dance like nobody is watching under Mays Blue Moon.

On Spring, “Speedy-Busyness,” and Finding Ourselves Anyone else have the feeling of being a little all over the place this spring? Buddhism has a very descriptive term for this energy of running around, doing a thousand things at once: “speedy-busyness.” I picture Looney Tune Tasmanian Devil energy. 🌪 It’s a little dizzying. The sense of being a spinning top - or maybe a drifting dandelion seed in spring - often feels even more acute at this time of year as the world blooms

May 1st is Beltane, the midpoint between the Spring Equinox and the Summer Solstice. We are at peak spring! And I imagine there are lots of things marking your calendar this spring – maybe some fun, some stressful, some everywhere in between. I hope it feels like the right mix for you! My own spring calendar has also had a little bit of everything – but the biggest, by far, has been heart surgery for my husband, Jack, a few weeks ago. Jack is doing so (so!) great. Thank you

This spring seems like a real doozy of “both/and”: The world feels out of control AND the daffodils are coming up right on time. I’m sad my oldest will be leaving home soon AND I’m so excited for the next adventure. How would you fill in the blanks of oh no! AND oh yay! in your own life? How about the optical illusions above? What do you see? I think optical illusions are fun and I hope you do too! AND, I’ve been finding these two to be helpful metaphors for ho

An old Buddhist teaching says that speech should pass through 3 gates before it leaves our mouths: Is it true? Is it necessary ? Is it kind ? I have started seeing these questions as a sort of Rorschach test. 👉 Which appears: a shrinking violet or a tall sunflower? Here’s what I mean: The questions can be cautionary. Careful not to hurt anyone's feelings! Don’t speak when you’re not sure. Or, they can encourage us to speak up when truth, need, and kindness align. Be an up

"You can't stop the waves, but you can learn to surf." - Jon Kabat-Zinn Thank you for being here! Today is a New Moon, punctuating the start of a fresh cycle – during what feels to me like an interminable season of uncertainty and fear. Maybe, like me, you find comfort in the moon cycle's reliable invitation to look up, to look out beyond ourselves, and into the broader rhythm of life. In that spirit, please enjoy this invitation to Buddhist equanimity: 💭 Imagine 4 people

Do you know awe, gratitude's lesser known cousin? Gratitude has been written about a lot: it reduces depression, anxiety, and stress, while improving sleep, relationships, and heart health. All so good! And, you can find recorded gratitude meditations - as well as non-meditation (!) ideas for gratitude practice - on the blog . Awe hasn’t gotten the same publicity yet . But I think it will. Awe has been the subject of a lot of research in the past few years and it's been fou

Enough, Together February 17th was a new moon, symbolizing new beginnings. I don't know about you, but "new beginnings" feel pretty welcome to me right about now! From recent conversations (or maybe I’m projecting), it seems like there is a pervading sense of wanting to do something – but also feeling like we’re not enough. Not powerful enough to make a difference, not knowledgeable enough to know what to do, not skilled enough to contribute what’s needed. Buddhists refer

Did you know that everyone, around the world, sees the moon in the same phase? 🌗🌖🌕 How about this - the first time people used the moon as a calendar? 35,000 years ago! The moon connects across time and space. Mor Keshet encourages a practice of “interbeing” — intentionally observing our interconnection to other beings, human and non-human – as a way to feel supported and build resilience. Example: think about how plants emit the oxygen we inhale and consume the CO2 we