“Make peace with the present moment.” Eckhart Tolle How are you feeling? People ask you that and then walk away. No one is really listening anymore. They say it to start a conversation. Well, I am asking now. How are you doing? It’s the day after the elections in the US. No matter who you voted for (I hope you voted for someone) no one feels like a winner today. I am not a neutral observer. I am not a…
“Whatever the present moment contains,Accept it as if you had chosen it…Make it your friend and ally,Not your enemy.” It is funny that I try to write these blogs like I know it all. I don’t. When I was regularly writing for “physicians living intentionally”, people used to say that I am wise beyond my age. I am not. Most specifically, it all came down tumbling down when a series of political events unfolded. I was in the depth of…
I have a little question for you: “Who is it, or what is it that you most appreciate in life?” Just think of that question. You don’t have to answer it immediately. Sort of let it simmer. You all know that I have a podcast that I talk about living an intentional life and living your best possible life now. You also know that I am a palliative care physician. My medical discipline is one that has a nurse, a…
Happy Monday morning my friends, “You have no idea how hard I’ve lookedFor a gift to bring You.Nothing seemed right.What’s the point of bringing gold toThe gold mine, or water to the ocean.Everything I came up with was likeTaking spices to the Orient.It’s no good giving my heart and mySoul because you already have these.So I’ve bought you a mirror.Look at yourself and remember me.” -Rumi I had the greatest weekend. It was my daughter’s 14th birthday. Birthdays are big…
“The work of the mature person is to carry grief in one hand and gratitude in the other and to be stretched large by them. How much sorrow can I hold? That’s how much gratitude I can give. If I carry only grief, I’ll bend toward cynicism and despair. If I have only gratitude, I’ll become saccharine and won’t develop much compassion for other people’s suffering. Grief keeps the heart fluid and soft, which helps make compassion possible.” -Francis Ward…
“I dreamed I called you on the telephoneto say: Be kinder to yourselfbut you were sick and would not answerThe waste my love goes on this wayTrying to save you from yourself I have always wondered about the leftoverenergy, water rushing down a hilllong after the rains have stopped or the fire you want to go to be frombut cannot leave, burning-down but not burnt-downthe red coals more extreme, more curiousin their flashing and dyingthan you wish they weresitting there…
“Once we believe in ourselves,We can risk curiosity, wonder, spontaneous delight,Or any experience that reveals the human spirit.” -e.e. Cummings How are you doing? Thursdays are my favorite days. They have always been. Growing up in Iran our weeks were different. First day of the week was Saturday and the last day was Friday. So you know the Sunday blues we feel here? It was Friday night blues… It’s funny to think that way now. We did not have two…
“We make pathways in our livesAnd follow blindly till death,Pride lifts our heads,Blinding us to all but the stones we stumble upon,Till Fate brings us down with a sudden blow.” -Rumi Hello there, September! At this moment it is Tuesday night and it is the first of September and a full moon. This being the start of the last quarter of the year, got me thinking, do you set resolutions for yourself? You know, starting Monday I am going to…
When I first heard about meditation, as something people other than buddhist monks do in their regular lives, I was probably in my early twenties. I had a college friend who was really into mindful work way back then. She really wanted to get me into meditating with her. I would ask: So do you have to sit there and close your eyes and think about nothing?I remember telling my friend, “oh, I don’t have time for that.” She would…
This being human is a guest-house.Every morning a new arrivalA joy, a depression, a meanness,Some momentary awareness comesAs an unexpected visitor.Welcome and entertain them all!Even if they’re crowd of sorrows,Who violently sweep your houseEmpty of its furniture.Still, treat each guest honorably.He may be clearing youOut for some new delight.The dark thought, the shame, the malice,Meet them at the door laughing,And invite them in.Be grateful for whoever comes,Because each has been sentAs a guide from beyond. -Rumi I feel like I…