A Mindful Life

This post has been updated with an extra link.
I’m not writing as much these days. Never in my life have I been so spent by the day’s end. Mothering has brought into focus for me what is real and what matters. It burns off all that is extraneous. Being used so completely simplifies my options. [...]

Perhaps I ought to follow her lead.

Patry Francis, who is recovering from cancer, encountered “perfect joy.” Read all about it and then ponder the question she poses at the end.
The only disagreement I have is with the idea of “having it.” I think this may not be possible. Life is ever-changing, and we are inconsistent. I think the real accomplishment is [...]

There is no cure for birth and death save to enjoy the interval.
–George Santayana

Compassion can be learned in much the same way as playing a musical instrument or being proficient in a sport, U.S. researchers said.
Using functional magnetic resonance imaging, researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison found that brain circuits used to detect emotions and feelings were dramatically changed in subjects who had extensive experience practicing compassion [...]

My collage gift arrived and was happily received. So here’s a photo.

The Mother I Am
Now, my mother laid the foundation at the beginning, and I’ve written a tribute to her. Here it is again if you’d like to read it. The thousands of interactions that make up a childhood formed the core of the mother [...]

Everything flows from your own heart.
–Fa-Yen

You’re asking the wrong questions. If you want to make the world a better place, tell funnier jokes!
–Woody Allen

This meme has been making the rounds. I’m not certain how I feel about the relevance of posting three sentences from a nearby book (and skipping the five preceding sentences), but what the heck.
I’ve been tagged by The Friendly Humanist for a new blog meme. Here are the rules:

Pick up the book nearest you with [...]

The real art of conversation is not only to say the right thing at the right place but to leave unsaid the wrong thing at the tempting moment.
–Dorothy Nevill