The Cost of Relating to Our Ideas What Do We Miss When We Relate to Our Idea About Something Instead of What is Truly There? I’m discovering the limits of theories and maps and mental distinctions. Very simply, when we hold a preconceived notion about something, we relate with our idea of it, rather than […]
Seeing Everyone’s Innocence What Happens When We Drop The Assumption that Someone Could be Different From How They Are? I’m talking with a friend, a mohawked guy sitting in front of the brick fireplace, fire gently cracking, a young couple cuddled on the front porch under a starless sky—and my vision appears full of light. […]
Dear Jordan: How Do You Go About Feeling More Deeply? A Rare and Underappreciated Skill Dear Jordan, When you know there is something bothering you, and you realize you should allow yourself to feel it deeply rather than avoiding the feeling, what do you do to feel it? I ask because I am increasingly aware […]
Is Your Desire to “Save the World” Ruining Your Life? Finding the Ego in Making A Difference I often hear of people wanting to “Save the world.” Even though I do not think it needs saving[1], I relate to that phrase. I want to make a positive impact on the world around me, and I […]
Judgment is Impossible And It Generally Doesn’t Make Us Happy Some of the world’s greatest wisdom traditions teach that to get what you want, look at removing that which you don’t want.[1] So, one way to get happiness is to remove all the things that make us unhappy. And one of the things that causes […]
God Can Help, Even if You’re An Atheist Tapping into the Power of Perfect Love “When I find myself in times of trouble, Mother Mary comes to me Speaking words of wisdom, let it be And in my hour of darkness she is standing right in front of me Speaking words of wisdom, let it […]
If You’re Not Doing This, You’re Forgiving Wrong True Forgiveness: Correcting Misapplications of Forgiveness I find that forgiveness is often misunderstood. I often misapply it (but I’m forgiving myself for it). The First Mistake: Forgiveness Means Someone Else Screwed Up First, there is the common notion that forgiveness means pardoning someone for the wrong they […]