Addiction is a shortcut to feelings of success. Drugs and alcohol are addictive because success feels good. But instead of working hard, achieving milestones, and getting the intrinsic satisfaction of a job well-done, alcohol just slips in those effervescent good feelings without having to do a lick of work. It’s a cheat to make your… Continue reading Why I Stopped Digging
This is a pretty un-zen meditation. I am pretty sure I don’t believe in healing energy, but I do believe that wishing with all your might for good outcomes doesn’t hurt. The universe doesn’t care what I wish for, but wishing hard comes close to feeling like doing something to help someone suffering (even if… Continue reading Power In/Power Out Meditation
If you know me, you know that I am absolutely obsessed with my cat. Fatberry is assertive, confident, and a world-class snuggler. He hates everyone in the world except for me, and Dan. He’s friends to only two people, but he is the best friend we could ask for. He has been my constant quarantine… Continue reading Pure Motherf*cking Magic
Like anyone, I have a lot of problems. I solve problems all day every day, mostly for work, but sometimes personal problems too. How to get insurance companies to pay claims. How to get people to attend my meetings. How to meet deadlines. I get really into my problems; there is all kinds of self-righteous… Continue reading The Problems Manifesto
I live in terror of making mistakes. I always have. In all the study of grit, resilience, persistence, etc., it’s well-established that fear of making mistakes paralyzes people and keeps them from building new knowledge. Well, that’s me in a textbook. It occurred to me today that we are 4 billion years of mistakes. When… Continue reading Mutations are Mistakes
Metta is a meditation that aims to extend your sense of compassion, a word most often translated as “loving kindness.” Sharon Salzberg has lived a mission of bringing this lovely practice to as many people as possible, and has some great meditations that are more traditionally Buddhist. Here is my little flavor of it. I… Continue reading Mega Metta Meditation
Finding compassion for people who you feel are contributing to your suffering is really hard. Unless we are very enlightened, all of us have that person, or maybe several persons, whose behavior makes us grind our teeth, and our deepest wish for them is a lifetime of having their vanilla pudding turn to mayonnaise on… Continue reading Let’s Get Metta-Physical
