We all know that being a good listener is an important skill to have, but how many of us actually practice it? Instead of processing what the other person is saying, we’re often planning what to say next and waiting for our turn to speak. Reflect for a moment on what you listened to today: Your favorite song on the…
We look at our watch and it says 11:11…a friend’s tarot card reading is right on the money…a double rainbow appears as if from nowhere…we happen to hear our deceased father’s favorite song just at the moment we’re making a big decision… How do we know if what we’re experiencing is a sign—from above, from our deeper intuition, from our…
When approached in the right way, an argument can bring you closer together and strengthen your relationship
So I’m at the hair salon where I get my hair cut and colored. I love it there: no snobs, no fashionistas, just people—people who bring their pets, their kids, their latest trials and triumphs, and share if they want, or not if they don’t. It’s like a little town square…with blue shampoo. On this particular day, two children have…
I recently attended Omega NYC’s “The Neuroscience of Well-Being, Mindfulness & Love” workshop at the New York Society for Ethical Culture. It was led by Jack Kornfield, Ph.D., and Dan Siegel, M.D.—two people I’d wanted to hear in person for years. Kornfield’s Seeking the Heart of Wisdom, which he wrote with Joseph Goldstein, was one of the first books about…
I grew up in a home that was within earshot of railroad tracks. As a young boy, I had a fanciful notion about what the sound of the choo-choo going by meant. I thought the train was rising in the air and taking off like an airplane as the pitch went higher, then landing out of town as the pitch…
I think many of us find it difficult to get the support we need from our partners. When we hear from a distressed person, our instinct may be to protect or to fix, in addition to being kind. But men and women tend to respond differently when it comes to support. As a woman, I feel there are times when…
A friend called to talk to me about some issues she was having with her husband. She told me they were in therapy. Again. They’ve been down this road several times before. According to her, she’s tried everything to save her marriage, and she has: counseling, communicating, crying. But the bottom line is if he’s not willing to work on…
In 1984, I was in sixth grade, at the beginning of the worst of the junior high years. At school, cliques were beginning to form, acts of rebellion were starting to hold cachet, and self-consciousness was spreading like a bad virus. I tried to get my bearings as the ground shifted beneath my feet. Just the year before, I’d been…
