I recently learned an equation that has been really helpful in maintaining a state of joy throughout the shift we're experiencing as global citizens. pain + resistance = suffering. As someone living in the Buddhist tradition (even if it's my own take on the matter), suffering is a key point in the philosophy of life. As The Buddha famously said, "Life is suffering." But The First Noble Truth is not meant to advertise hopelessness. A different english translation might be "

Recently, I spent a week in Boulder, Colorado with my cohort at Naropa University . There are nearly 30 of us, each coming from a different background, to study MTC (Mindfulness-based Transpersonal Counseling). We spent every day, Monday through Friday, together talking about our mindfulness practice, our interests in expressing a future in counseling, and yes...our own shit. There was not a person in the room who didn't utter the phrase "my therapist" or "in therapy". And

When I was a kid, my grandfather was my hero. And just before he died, my sister sent me a video message from his hospital bed. He was in a lot of pain, essentially dying from sepsis right before her very eyes. In a delusion, he was "talking to me" and she wanted to capture it on camera. I confess I never actually watched the video. I couldn't bear it. But my sister, conveyed that he was going on about his reluctance "at being someone's hero". It's several years later