Avoidance is the best policy, right? 😂 While I spent much of my life “running” from sadness, anger, fear, frustration, and the like, I’ve realized: Radical acceptance of the awkward stuff, not avoidance, is the path to flourishing. In many ways, the Lorde concert I just went to was a masterful artistic audiovisual illustration of this truth. Midway through the performance, … Continue reading Accepting Awkwardness Creates Awesomeness
Hi Fabulous! I hope you’re having a wonderful day and are blessed by this offering. America has a breathing problem. All inhale, all the time. Our competitive consumer culture urges us to ONLY inhale, in that we’re all about acquiring, climbing, and winning. You know the saying, “happy wife, happy life”? At the risk of … Continue reading Breath Teaches Us How to Live, Love, and Die Well: Yoga Life Lessons
My wife and I have this dance we do. Generally speaking, she cooks on the weekends and I do on weeknights, Lisa takes our dog Biscuits out in the morning and I handle the rest, I do the laundry and she cleans the floors, and so on. While our dance moves shift when the music … Continue reading Side Effects May Include Big Bliss, Gigantic Gratitude, & Profound Peace
Do you ever find yourself in a situation where you don't know how to act? One of the blessings of marrying Lisa was gaining three adult "kids" and seven grandchildren. The weird part, though, is having only been in their lives for a few years, we don't have a dad or granddad type of relationship, … Continue reading You Have Permission
The Beloved One sees you fully, loving every bit of your being. The Blissful One adores you always, regarding you with infinite fondness. The Blessed One delights deeply, in YOU, living your daily, "mundane" life. The Beautiful One celebrates you extravagantly, roaring approval because you ARE a champion. The Bountiful One hugs you fiercely, for … Continue reading The Beloved One (A Poem to You)
Have you ever said something hurtful or dumb, and wished you could hit the rewind button to make it so the words never came out? As Lisa and I watched the Seahawks game, while I was taunting the other team for frequently complaining to the refs over trivial things (my first mistake), I called them … Continue reading Meditation on Breathing Love
Sorrow everywhere. Slaughter everywhere. If babies are not starving someplace, they are starving Somewhere else. With flies in their nostrils. Thus begins Jack Gilbert’s hope-filled and realistic poem “A Brief for the Defense”. The very next words continue by saying: But we enjoy our lives because that’s what God wants. Otherwise the mornings before … Continue reading Choosing Joy/Stubborn Gladness
What words come to mind when you think of "life", as in your or my life? Some of my favorite words to sum up a thriving and flourishing life are "flow", "dance", "play", and "love". I think the more we experience reality in ways that line up with these images, the more blissful and incredible things get … Continue reading Meditation on Effortless Doing and Living IN the Flow
Grace and Peace Yoga 