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“A community practicing understanding and loving kindness, a community practicing mindful living, may be the most important thing we can do for the survival of the earth.”  (Thich Nhat Hanh) A community doesn’t need to be made up of people who are in close physical proximity to you. Many tightly knit communities are geographically spreadRead more

There are many aspects to loving ‘what is’, but today let’s look at relationships, specifically intimate ones and close friendships.  We’ve already talked about how damaging it is to both people in the relationship if one or both of you is trying to change the other.  It just doesn’t work. The alternative is to acceptRead more

I just got home from a lovely workshop presented by a friend.  She talked about accessing that space of peacefulness that comes when we realize that life is just a play, that life isn’t real.  As she described the space of nothingness, of divinity, of being, and then guided the group to that space, aRead more

time melts when friends are here our voices overlap  but our stories resonate distinctly clear whether the content is delightful woeful, tragic, or so deeply personal we absorb it on all levels the gentle touch on someone’s knee a firm hug  if need be laughter lines are welcome here tears of sorrow are not feared we’veRead more

We’ve been taught that love is a verb, an action that we take, and while it certainly can express in that way, love is not an action, but rather a state of being. What does this mean?  It means that you dwell in a place of loving, you breathe love, you exude love, you areRead more

though the world can be vast and too much to take some days i walk assuredly, calmly with safety and security knowing that your enduring friendship provides a portal to a loving nest a path back to peace trusting you are there for me instills a bucolic serenity in my bones an armored-car-feeling as i navigateRead more

Editor’s Note:  This post originally appeared on Christmas Day 2010.  I hope you enjoy it again this year.  The message is timeless. The greatest gift we can ever give to others or to ourselves, or that we can ever receive, is love. I can’t cover everything about love in one post — that would be impossible. Read more

Note from Elise:  Occasionally I invite guests to post their thoughts for you.  I think you’ll enjoy the ideas and unique voices.  At the end of each post, you can read a brief bio about the guest author.  Enjoy! ******* Mary Klein When asked to write a guest blog post, I decided to share withRead more

We’ve all heard the expression, “Good fences make good neighbors”, and what I’ve come to realize is that good fences are needed for healthy relationships of all kinds.  So what does that mean exactly? If you consider that fences are boundaries which delineate where I end and you begin, and which mark out the linesRead more

“We need, in love, to practice only this:  letting each other go.  For holding on comes easily; we do not need to learn it.”  (Rainer Maria Rilke) In the 80’s, the Police sang, “Set them free” — a song about setting free that which you love and knowing that if the love is meant toRead more