(image) “In the depth of winter, I finally learned that there was in me an invincible summer.” ~Albert Camus Life has a way of throwing us curve balls when we least expect them. For years, I had been managing the usual ups and downs of life when I was blindsided by a diagnosis that would forever change the way I lived: psoriatic arthritis. It’s one of those illnesses that most people don’t quite understand because it doesn’t always show on the outside. I looked fine, but inside, […]

(image) Since you follow Tiny Buddha, I’m guessing you might be familiar with the benefits of meditation and perhaps have already experienced many of them yourself. I first found meditation through yoga, which I initially started at a gym solely because I was curious. I didn’t know then that meditation can help with depression, anxiety, stress, and insomnia (all of which I’ve experienced); that it can literally rewire the brain to help with healing from trauma (also a battle I know very well); or that it can […]

(image) “Removing old conditionings from the mind and training the mind to be more equanimous with every experience is the first step toward enabling one to experience true happiness.” ~S.N. Goenka I just spent ten days sitting in absolute silence with about 100 strangers, time I previously thought I should’ve spent networking and applying for jobs as an unemployed twenty-something with little savings and no assets, living in a completely new country with no network or job prospects. There were no conversations, no eye contact, no listening […]

(image) “Nobody can go back and start a new beginning, but anyone can start today and make a new ending.” ~Maria Robinson It can be tempting to think you need a new partner to create a better relationship, and for some that might be true. But many of us don’t need new relationships; we just need to start doing things differently in the ones we have. Perhaps your relationship isn’t feeling as fulfilling as it once did. Maybe you’re losing hope but also resisting the effort required […]

(image) “Don’t be afraid to start over. This time you’re not starting from scratch, you’re starting from experience.” ~Unknown Five years ago, as I approached my fortieth birthday, I was deeply dissatisfied with my life. I resolved to change everything: to leave San Francisco, where I’d lived for nearly a decade, and to shift my career trajectory, finally committing to my passion—writing. I also vowed to address my intimacy issues in friendships and romantic relationships. This desire led to countless online dates and deeper introspection, particularly regarding […]

(image) “I am not my thoughts, emotions, sense perceptions, and experiences. I am not the content of my life. I am Life. I am the space in which all things happen. I am consciousness. I am the Now. I Am.” ~Eckhart Tolle Everything changed the moment I learned I was not my thoughts. There I was, reading Eckhart Tolle’s A New Earth, when I read this line: “What a liberation to realize that the ‘voice in my head’ is not who I am. Who am I then? […]

(image) “Feeling safe in someone’s energy is a different kind of intimacy. That feeling of peace and protection is really underrated.” ~Vanessa Klas The first time I said, “I love you” to a romantic partner, I was met with silence. Nine months into what I believed was a deep, mutual relationship, I felt certain we were on the same page. But when the words left my mouth, he froze. No words back. No reassurance. Just silence. The next thing I knew, he disappeared for weeks, leaving me […]

(image) “For fast acting relief, try slowing down.” ~Lily Tomlin “Are you the owner?” asks, well, yet another customer at our local Italian eatery. “Nope—I’m just old!” I reply, all sheepish but pleased. It’s true. At fifty, I’m not exactly your classic, college-struggling part-timer. Actually, I’m the oldest employee at our restaurant—the staff “mom,” if you will. I’ve been at this serving gig three years now and haven’t looked back. Which might seem weird considering how I got here in the first place. What a contrast to the […]