by Kate | Jul 27, 2022 | Transformation
“Grief,” writes B. Alan Wallace in The Four Immeasurables: Practices to Open the Heart, “is the near enemy of compassion.” Compassion, in Wallace’s view, is the desire that another be free from suffering. It holds the vision that such freedom is possible. In Buddhist...
by Kate | Sep 16, 2020 | kind promises, monsters, Transformation
When I lived in North Carolina, a tree fell on my neighbor’s car. He was upset and hired some guys to cut down many of the tall pine trees on his property. I cowered in the house that day, cringing at the sound of the chainsaws and the toppling trees. It felt like...
by Kate | Aug 22, 2020 | kind promises, monsters, Transformation
My mind is my biggest playground. Since I am quadriplegic, there’s not much I can change about my body, how it works (or doesn’t), or what it does. My body slips like an otter into the pool of “things I cannot change.” I am left with mind and spirit as potential...
by Kate | Sep 26, 2019 | Advocacy, kind promises, Transformation
Strong emotions sweep into us with energy. It’s up to us to use that energy – that passion – wisely. If we refuse to feel our emotions, the energy stays around inside our bodies. Like oil turning rancid, it can sour into depression or aggression. I have certainly...
by Kate | Aug 6, 2019 | Chronic healing, kind promises, Transformation
In Buddhist thought, there is an idea called “impermanence.” It’s a recognition that life is always changing. Just when you think you have things sorted, something shifts and you need to adapt. During these times of change, I use the kind promise “I will reinvent...
by Kate | Sep 25, 2018 | kind promises, Transformation
One of the things I am reinventing this month is my art practice. I think wistfully about the days when I could just pick up a brush and make a “mess painting.” I would wet the brush and then wet each oval in my watercolor set. That would wake up the paint. Then I...
