Happy Thanksgiving
In ordinary life we hardly realize that we receive a great deal more than we give, and that it is only with gratitude that life becomes rich. - Dietrich Bonhoeffer
You Already Have Everything You Will Ever Need
So beautiful and worth remembering.
"Focus is Power: Effectively Treating Executive Attention Deficit Disorder" - Jeremy Hunter/Marc Sokol
An interesting new article by Jeremy Hunter and Marc Sokol making a clear case for cultivating the skills that are the cornerstones of a mindful meditation practice. One powerful point shines light on how we assume we know how to focus our attention. However, we only look to develop critical rational thinking in our education system and bypass this equally important and necessary human capability.
Read the article here: "Focus is Power: Effectively Treating Executive Attention Deficit Disorder"
RELATED ARTICLES
"Say I am You" - Rumi
A reflection on interdependence
SAYIAMYOU [RUMI]
I am dust particles in sunlight.
I am the round sun.
To the bits of dust I say, Stay.
To the sun, Keep moving.
I am morning mist,
and the breathing of evening.
I am wind in the top of a grove,
and surf on the cliff.
Mast, rudder, helmsman, and keel,
I am also the coral reef they founder on.
I am a tree with a trained parrot in its branches.
Silence, thought, and voice.
The musical air coming through a flute,
a spark of a stone, a flickering
in metal. Both candle,
and the moth crazy around it.
Rose, and the nightingale
lost in the fragrance.
I am all orders of being, the circling galaxy,
the evolutionary intelligence, the lift,
and the falling away. What is,
and what isn’t. You who know
Jelaluddin. You the one
in all, Say who
I am. Say I
am You.
Opportunity for choice in the moment
"Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom." Viktor Frankl
Empathy Documentary Project - "Insights into Empathy" - Oren J. Sofer
This is a lovely and succinct explanation of empathy that offers a lot to learn.
Oren J. Sofer is a teacher and practitioner of Buddhist mediation, Nonviolent Communication (NVC) and Somatics.
The Empathy Documentary project was conceived and facilitated by Edwin Rutsch, the Founding Director of the Center for Building a Culture of Empathy. http://cultureofempathy.com/
"The top 10 things most people don't know about mindfulness" - Ryan M. Niemiec, Psy.D.
Important and insightful list including a bonus item - "And, your mind wandering is normal!"
http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/what-matters-most/201306/top-10-things-most-people-don-t-know-about-mindfulness - Ryan M. Niemiec, Psy.D., education director at the VIA Institute on Character
Authenticity
“If you trade your authenticity for safety, you may experience the following: anxiety, depression, eating disorders, addiction, rage, blame, resentment, and inexplicable grief.”
― Brené Brown
Year-end Reflections - Doing and Being
Happy New Year!
Everyday most of us live in the space between where we are and where we would like to be. We look for ways to be better at planning, scheduling, strategizing, setting goals and taking action. Great stuff! Important stuff!
But sometimes there’s still an out-of-focus chunk of the experience that’s lurking and untouched by all of the doing. Strangely, that chunk isn’t experienced in the mind or through thinking. It’s seems to require a deeper kind of knowing that many people sense comes from the heart.
My wish for you this year is that you regularly make time to quietly visit and explore that out-of-focus chunk of your experience and learn more about it. My own visits show there is wisdom, openness and balance available that will support all of those functions of your mind.