Browsing: Personal Essays

We’ve lost a handful of visionary writers in recent months and years: Mary Oliver, Wendell Berry, and Annie Dillard come to mind for me, among others. These are people who not only inspired me as a writer in my formative years but who also shaped my moral imagination. In each case, learning about their deaths…

When I was a student at Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism in 2016, I thought it would be a good idea to write about the appropriation of mindfulness by corporate America for my Master’s project. What I discovered during the course of my reporting was a paradox. 

My journey to mindfulness started long before I knew what the word meant. I was born to two wonderful parents, Lenny and Linda, and from the very beginning I was a kid full of vigor, energy, spontaneity, and deep curiosity. Eclectic, you could say.

Our days are made up of countless small reactions to the outside world. A short email from a colleague can put us in a bad mood for the afternoon, a criticism from a partner can linger for days, or an ordinary disappointment can suddenly make us question everything.

From urbanism to psychology, belonging is often understood as a universal human yearning, a condition of community, and a form of social safety. Perhaps this is why we often fail to ask, “What is the cost of belonging, and who is most likely to pay a premium?” 

When I first started meditating, I was anxious and fidgety. I wanted to crawl out of my skin. I’m truly astounded that I didn’t quit, since I was 17 at the time and had quit all sorts of things in those days—and they were mostly things that were good for me. Things that weren’t good…

The first time I meditated, I did it for the extra credit. My professor at my undergraduate university offered bonus points to anyone who took a meditation class at the campus health center, so I added my name to the sign-up sheet. Before the class started, we each rated our stress on a scale of…

Your body is always in a state of something. In any given moment, you may notice a sense of calm, alertness, excitement, overwhelm, openness, or feeling shut down. These are not just ideas; they can also have physiological components. Heart rate, breath, muscle tension, and gut response are all continually shifting in response to what…

Halfway through my daily walk in the park, I usually stop at a little café, near a playground I used to play in as a child. Recently, I was sitting with a warm cup of coffee when I noticed a little girl in bright rubber boots stepping in and out of a muddy puddle.

I have been a psychotherapist and mindfulness teacher for decades. But in the back of my mind, I have always wanted to do stand-up comedy. It sounded like it would be a lot of fun. Besides, I had my mindfulness practice in my back pocket to help keep me present. What could go wrong?