The body of my ex-wife was discovered the day after Thanksgiving. Just days later, a good friend took his own life. Both had struggled, in one way or another, with depression, anxiety, self-loathing - and the heavy drinking that so often comes with such ailments. You're no doubt familiar with these labels, perhaps even suffer [...]

As parents we wonder how best to raise our children. Understandably, we use the very same blueprint we've used for our own lives, encouraging our kids to pursue love, meaning, success, money, security, career, etc. And yet, the lives built by those blueprints are rarely if ever happy ones (certainly not permanently so), are far [...]

In a scene from the screwball comedy, Meatballs, a summer camp counselor played by Bill Murray gives a rousing speech about the futility not just of an upcoming competition with a neighboring rich kids' camp, but of life itself (no matter how hard one tries, shrieks Murray, no matter how much God might be on our [...]

A man appears on the scene - no, scratch that, there have been too many men in this role. A woman appears on the scene. She is a great mystery to her new neighbors, quiet, preternaturally serene, utterly uninterested in the affairs of the world. To the few who encounter her, it is clear that [...]

The day after Labor Day when, for most of us, we return to work we dislike. Telling, isn't it, that a majority of heart attacks occur on Mondays, the day that our labors begin, and the fewest occur on Saturdays, the commencement of a two-day respite from that same work? It's similarly illuminating the way [...]

Today's post is spurred by something written by Thich Nhat Hanh on the subject of love. His statement, printed below, brought to mind experiences from a New Mexico vision quest almost exactly 11 years ago, and their role in opening this guarded, frightened heart. "When our hearts are small," wrote Hanh, "our understanding and compassion [...]

Comedian-sage George Carlin had a bit where he advised parents to encourage their kids to question everything. "Kids have to be warned that there is bullshit coming down the road," said Carlin. "That's the biggest thing you can do for a kid." Parents, Carlin added, are the biggest perpetuators of bullshit, which is why most [...]

If my own life experience is any kind of indication, we live in a constant state of mental comparison to others. As in, how do I measure up in the estimation of my parents or children, or perhaps by the standards of my culture or race or socioeconomic grouping? Who am I, relative to them? [...]

What I call the God Experiment is an eye-opening adventure you won't soon forget. For 24 hours, transform everything around you into God. Replace every label and concept you have for people, places, and things with God. You do not need to be a believer to play this game - in fact, it will be [...]

Over the previous month life leveled me. Again. And then again. The reasons why are unimportant - far too often I've gotten lost in the symptoms behind the suffering and missed the message, the GIFT, underlying the suffering. In this case, humility. Life humbles. And despite the immense pain so often associated with the humbling [...]