Marriage is work. If you’re married, how many times have you heard this expression or shared it with others? More important, do you believe this to be true? Which parts of a relationship constitute work? Isn’t it interesting that we look at relationships as an object that requires “work” vs. an energetic dynamic between two [...]

Some years ago I had a remarkable dream. In it I was a raindrop tumbling from a great, gray cloud and I felt ecstatically free the way one can in flying dreams. Then, suddenly, the clouds parted and below me stretched a vast and endless blue ocean and to my horror I realized I was [...]

In the spring of 1999 I and another member of the American Red Cross boarded a flight bound for the Balkan conflict in Kosovo. A veteran of many humanitarian assignments, I felt no particular concern about the trip. But on the evening of my departure the chronic anxiety that had become a part of my [...]

During the holidays my wife received word that a favorite cousin had been hospitalized with advanced brain cancer. He is young, handsome, charismatic, a business owner, a newly minted husband and father of a child not yet one. Family and friends are stunned, praying for a miracle. We humans are funny about our suffering. We’ll [...]

His name is Gene Sprague. He paces the Golden Gate's walkway at its highest point, occasionally stopping to gaze down at the water more than 200 feet below. Immersed in their picture-taking, nearby tourists fail to notice him. His pacing stops, he brushes his long black hair from his face, pushes himself into a sitting [...]

Recently I stumbled across the following. Take a look and consider its implications not just for your medical treatment, but for all aspects of your life. One study found that when confronted with a patient with back pain, surgeons prescribed surgery, physical therapists thought that therapy was indicated and yes, acupuncturists were sure needles were [...]

Imagine that you are an actor and the director calls with a new assignment. It goes something like this: “We’re sending you into a new theatre for the role of a lifetime.” So far, so good. “But be forewarned you are joining a hostile cast and some of the other actors may not be welcoming [...]

Two pregnant women, close friends, are overjoyed to learn they will be delivering their babies on the same day at the same hospital. Taking this as a sign, they determine that the babies – both of them boys – are destined to be lifelong friends and in the ensuing months the new mothers do everything [...]

A bit of a departure today, maybe because it's rainy and gray out, maybe because it seems to me a lot of us need a bit more music and joy in our lives and a lot less anger and division. When I was a child there was a lot of music in the home and [...]

No doubt because I have participated in a handful of sweat lodges, a number of friends recently have forwarded me media articles pertaining to the recent sweat lodge deaths at a "spiritual" retreat in Sedona, Arizona. These emails also are understandably implying that sweat lodges are dangerous affairs, especially for something ostensibly designed as a [...]