A Mindful Life

The following was an email response on a topical group mailing list I’m on. There is a connection between spirituality and therapy that I am trying to learn within myself. I find it interesting that so many of my clients ascribe the label “Buddhist” to me when I am not formally a practitioner. As you [...]

A topic my brother and I have discussed at length is that of systems theory as applied to business. He has a book written by John Sterman, a very dense tome called Business Dynamics: Systems Thinking and Modeling for a Complex World. This is not as dry as it sounds, especially when one can apply [...]

Perhaps we are seeing the decline of an era. (I certainly hope so.) Fox is launching a new show called “The Littlest Groom,” featuring a 4-foot-5 man searching for a bride. Reality television encourages rubbernecking on the roadside of life. It appeals to the basest part of human nature, the voyeur in us who takes [...]

Some of these are truly funny! The Washington Post’s Style Invitational once again asked readers to take any word from the dictionary, alter it by adding, subtracting, or changing one letter, and supply a new definition. Here are the 2003 winners:

Some time ago I read an article from the New York Times Magazine that proposes the potential benefit of repressing traumatic experiences rather than verbally re-living the story over and over. What I appreciated about the article is the consideration given to the fact that not all people cope in the same way. For some, [...]

This is an excerpt from a journal that Henri Nouwen kept during a period of deep depression. It has become a pivotal book in my life. Avoid All Forms of Self-Rejection You must avoid not only blaming others but also blaming yourself. You are inclined to blame yourself for the difficulties you experience in relationships. [...]

Does therapy help, or is it simply an expensive way to pass the time? An article in Salon, Off the couch, summarizes the author’s many years of therapy and her decision to quit. She raises questions about the value of therapy and whether it really is of any use, when other pursuits might work just [...]

An Austin psychiatrist charged with sexually assaulting three of his patients at a Veterans Affairs clinic was found not guilty Thursday. State District Judge Jon Wisser said there was insufficient evidence that Gregory Vagshenian exploited his patients’ emotional dependency. Wisser instead found Vagshenian guilty of Class C misdemeanor assault. Vagshenian could be fined up to [...]

Joe Perez attempted to define his spiritual philosophy and did such an admirable job that I’m compelled to post it. I could not have put it better: A philosophy of life should keep me grounded in being in the world and in my body and emotions, affirm the value and dignity of life, and encourage [...]

I’ve happened across an unusual blog via Joe Perez, called orangeguru // wild visual blogging. It’s a combination of images and cryptic or succinct statements that seem sort of like koans. The post which caught my attention: Why do we need reincarnation, when people hardly believe in themselves in this life? Interesting question.