We cannot change the world by a new plan, project or idea. We cannot even change other people by our convictions, stories, advice and proposals, but we can offer a space where people are encouraged to disarm themselves, lay aside their occupations and preoccupations and listen with attention and care to the voices speaking in…
Susan David says, “We own our emotions, they don’t own us. When we internalize the difference between how I feel in all my wisdom and what I do in a values-aligned action, we generate the pathway to our best selves via our emotions. So, what does this look like in practice? When you feel a…
LIFEHACKER explores the value of understanding how others see the world: “The Importance of Empathy“
“Life is glorious, but life is also wretched. It is both. Appreciating the gloriousness inspires us, encourages us, cheers us up, gives us a bigger perspective, energizes us. We feel connected. But if that’s all that’s happening, we get arrogant and start to look down on others, and there is a sense of making ourselves…
Compassion is not a relationship between the healer and the wounded. It’s a relationship between equals. Only when we know our own darkness well can we be present with the darkness of others. Compassion becomes real when we recognize our shared humanity. ― Pema Chödrön
How to Truly Hear from the Heart Heather Plett writes, “My three daughters are all very different in how they view the world, how they communicate and how they process emotions. One of the most challenging things I’ve had to learn as their mom is that I have to listen to each of them differently. “One…
When despair for the world grows in me and I wake in the night at the least sound in fear of what my life and my children’s lives may be, I go and lie down where the wood drake rests in his beauty on the water, and the great heron feeds. I come into the…
Tips on how to be a good listener to yourself so you can be a better listener to others. David Rome writes, “How often do you feel really listened to? How often do you really listen to others? (Be honest.) We know we’re in the presence of a good listener when we get that…
Christopher Willard writes about informal mindfulness practices for those of us who don’t have five minutes to contemplate a raisin. “I can still remember the raisin from that first mindfulness class I took in a family friend’s basement office, almost twenty years ago. I myself was only 20 years old and that first awe-inspiring taste…
Leslie Davis writes, “On a recent personal retreat, I hiked into Horn Canyon in the east end of Ojai, California. Due to the severe drought, it had been years since water had flowed alongside the trail there, but now I was delighted to cross the creek a few times, jumping from rock to rock. My…
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