At the end of August, I started driving my younger daughter to and from high school. The “to school” leg of the journey wasn’t so bad, although there was a ton of traffic, and trying to get down the street with teenagers and parents bolting out in front of me from the side roads and near-comatose students meandering into the cross-walks. The pick-up time was crazy making; a constantly shifting sand and never seemed to be when I was available, based upon the original schedul

There is a lot of buzz…beyond buzz at this point….about mindfulness. Mindfulness in the workplace. Mindfulness in the schools. Mindfulness in healthcare-in mental health-in sports-the arts-and yes, even in parenting and relationship. What is mindfulness? Why the buzz? And what does this have to do with ME? Mindfulness is a way of being, where one brings full awareness to the present moment experience, and lives that present moment experience with kindness and curiosity instea

Looking at the berries on the holly bush outside the building where I taught this morning, this cold, grey, November morning , I saw it very clearly. It was next to impossible to see those beautiful berries last week; this week, however, many of the leaves have fallen away, and those that remain are brown and shriveled. It is not a cheery process from an aesthetic viewpoint, this browning and withering. When it is done, it peels back to what is at the core, what is real, wha