“We think that the point is to pass the test or to overcome the problem, but the truth is that things don’t really get solved. They come together and they fall apart.” ~Pema Chodron, When Things Fall Apart: Heart Advice for Difficult Times I have written before about some of the advice I received when I first started my business. …
Let’s Stop Apologizing, Shall We?
“The desire to reach for the stars is ambitious. The desire to reach hearts is wise.” ~Maya Angelou In a relatively recent conversation, I discovered that I was harboring some previously unacknowledged guilt for being an ambitious woman with dreams of world domination. Ok, ok. I don’t really want world domination. But I do have big dreams and the …
Awe is Awesome: Emotions, Inflammation, and How Your Thoughts Change Your Physiology
“The moment we cry in a film is not when things are sad but when they turn out to be more beautiful than we expected them to be.” ~Alain de Botton (Scroll to the bottom to hear me read this article if you’re an auditory learner or just want to listen to my voice. 😉 ) Your brain is made …
This Isn’t A Test: The Comparison Trap and Why You Should Keep Your Eyes On Your Own Paper
“Comparison is the death of joy.” ~Mark Twain One of the best pieces of advice I ever received was to keep my eyes on my own paper. Which was basically just a suggestion to stop looking outside myself for constant validation and to start doing the hard work of figuring out who I was and who I wanted to become …
Sometimes Growth Feels Gross (or, Today’s Full Moon and the Discomfort of Changing Your Story)
“May we remind ourselves that growth doesn’t need to feel good to be good for us in the long run.” ~Chani Nicholas THIS. Whether or not you’re into astrology and tracking the cycles of the moon, this message from the infinitely wise and talented Chani Nicholas on this day of the full moon is so on point I couldn’t not …
When a Fry is Just a Fry (or, Please Don’t Attach Meaning to Everything)
“Half of what I say is meaningless; but I say it so that the other half may reach you.” ~Kahlil Gibran, Sand and Foam Last week, I was having lunch with my boyfriend when he jokingly began to “read” our fries as a way to tell my future. It was hilarious, yes, but it also made me think about how eager …
Let’s Stop Pathologizing Anxiety, Shall We?
“Our task must be to free ourselves… by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty.” ~ Albert Einstein Is anxiety always pathological? I think not. As someone with a previous history of panic attacks that seemed to arise out of nowhere, I can say that I am very familiar …
I Don’t Know Either
We’re all searching for some sort of certainty except that certainty isn’t something that exists in most cases. Even in science, something is true only until it isn’t. Take last week, for example, when two major discoveries were made about how the body functions. The first demonstrated that the cerebellum — a large structure located at the back of …
You Don’t Have to Be Certain to Be Helpful
I’ve decided that being a relatively content human is often about learning how to hold two contradictory truths in your brain at the same time without imploding. What do I mean by this? Well, let’s start with an example — namely, me. Because I am a total contradiction in so many ways. I am largely a science-y, show me the …
New Body, Old Programming: Why It’s Ok to Love Your Body Regardless of Your Size
“If you have the ability to love, love yourself first.” ~Charles Bukowski Earlier this week, a few hours after waking up, I made the rare (in my case) decision to jump on the scale in my bathroom and find out what I weighed on that particular day. Why? I seriously have no idea. Curiosity, I suppose. It had been over a …