Sitting Shiva for America

I woke up this morning feeling a sense of great loss, loss for so many things…the loss of civility in our country, the loss of life from Covid, and cancer, and guns, and innocent black men and women being killed, innocent protesters being gunned down, the violence in our streets. The seemingly impossible divide between […]

Relationship Role Modeling from the Obamas

Sixteen years ago Barack and Michelle Obama’s marriage was about to crumble. Michelle told her mother she wasn’t sure their marriage would survive. Barack told his grandmother that Michelle’s constant nagging was driving him crazy. They were drowning in debt from the Ivy League law school loans. Michelle was the major breadwinner with her high […]

The Alchemy of Tragedy

I wasn’t born an optimist. In fact… quite the opposite. I was a moody, sullen, often seriously depressed child and young adult. One night, at age 26, I decided that I was going to find the secret of happiness. I was at a party in Coconut Grove, Florida, at the waterfront home of a millionaire, […]

26 pounds, a muffin top, and true happiness…

Thirty-six years ago I was obsessed with the ambition to attain physical perfection. I had this idea that if I could weigh a certain amount, have my measurements be an exact number, have my hair the best length and all ten of fingernails “long” at the same time, I would be perfect and with that […]

Making Room For Surprises & Miracles

There once was a woman who saw on TV that her neighborhood was about to be flooded and the officials said everyone should evacuate. She believed that God would save her, and she ignored the warning. Then a city worker knocked on her door and told her to leave for higher ground and she said […]

Is Becoming An Author on Your Wish List?

I’ve written eleven non-fiction books over the past thirty years and along the way I made just about every mistake an author can make. Writing, publishing, and marketing a book is a very counter-intuitive process, and unless you seek out expert advice, it’s likely you will make a lot of mistakes as well. That’s why […]

Finally, some good news….

According to the Vedic tradition, we are now in what is called Kali Yuga, the age of darkness and ignorance. A time when people further down the path of dishonesty, and virtue is of little value. Liars and hypocrites rise. The human diet is now ‘dirty’, and the environment is now polluted. Supposedly this will […]

My Favorite Lockdown Distractions

TV, Books, Beach walks and Travel Memories are all the top of my list of how I’ve been keeping myself amused this summer. FYI, none of these activities fall into the category of spiritual or personal growth. TV – Brian and I have fallen into an early evening routine of watching a couple of hours […]

Catch A Wave (In Spite of the Wobble)

The first thing I see out my window each morning are the surfers. We live across the street from South Bird Rock, the best “break” in San Diego and only the most expert surfers dare to ride here. Not only do you have to be an advanced surfer, you also have to hike down a […]

John Lennon Got It All Wrong

Don’t get me wrong, I love John Lennon and I love the Beatles, but their song “All You Need is Love,” a lovely sentiment to be sure, is also far from the truth. The wild and wonderful state of “being in love” is natures greatest trick to get us to keep the species going, but […]