I took my weekly walk with my friend Nikki today: two women, striding along an expanse of snowy tundra under a clear blue sky, masked, talking a mean streak. How are you managing? We ask each other. We don’t want the, at-the-end-of-the-day, answer. We don’t want the pre-packaged, wrapped-up-in-a-bow answer. Each of us wants from … Continue reading Two Friends Go For A Walk
Category: Conversation
The Personal Touch at Wegmans
Lolly is my favorite checker at Wegmans. She speaks in a friendly, conspiratorial tone, kind of out-of-the-side-of-her-mouth. Her voice has a very peculiar timbre, too. Something between foghorn and an oboe. It intrigues me. But the thing I really like about her, and why I will wait in her line even if there’s a faster … Continue reading The Personal Touch at Wegmans
A Sunday Brunch Meditation
Over gluten-free waffles, green juice and coffee Misty, Vince and I talked about role models, and how if it weren't for our friends' families, we would never have imagined that parents could be nice to one another, and to their children. So if you have a half-way decent family situation, you should open your home … Continue reading A Sunday Brunch Meditation
I Hear You
I used to be uncomfortable whenever there was a lull in a conversation. I used to jump in and fill it with ANYTHING rather than just let any silence be there. I am noticing that I am a lot more comfortable with silence now. I am learning how powerful it is. When someone stops talking … Continue reading I Hear You
Tending Things
We tend gardens. And children. And some of us tend to the sick. Today I tended to my bills, my accounts, my business. I watered the plants, switched the pictures around on the walls, dusted the sills, folded all the blankets and lined them up neatly on the rack. I tended my meditation practice, and … Continue reading Tending Things
Stronger This Year
In the mornings I am reading Thinner This Year. This is dangerous for my health coaching client because this book is scaring me. It pulls no punches when it comes to laying out just what happens when you eat crap. My client eats crap. My client doesn't exercise enough. Today he proudly told me that … Continue reading Stronger This Year
The Way I Wish To Be Seen
Today after yoga was over and most people had gone, Vince, my trainer, stopped by to say hi and to give me a letter. As it turned out I had a card for him, too. It had the Rilke quote on it about living the questions. He sat down in the Poang chair and read … Continue reading The Way I Wish To Be Seen
The Art of the Conversation
Today I spent a bunch of hours talking to one of the best conversationalists I know, Tim Schlitzer. I am actually really lucky because I know so many people who have taken the dialogue to an art form. Zee Zahava is a pure master and a virtuoso, as is Anthony David Adams. Here is what … Continue reading The Art of the Conversation
Inspiration Location 