To travel means, ultimately, nothing more than coming back home a different person from the one who left.            Pico Iyer I grew up on a cul-de-sac (see above), defined as a blind alley closed at one end.  As a street design when I was a kid, it was glorious.  As...Read More

The rest is not our business.   T.S. Elliott Awe is an emotion that may be a key to the good life.  It’s that unique feeling of being in the presence of something vast.  It transcends our current understanding of the world; it’s beyond language and thought. It’s the taking in of breathtaking beauty.  We can...Read More

It’s not how old you are, it’s how you are old.   Jules Renard Fluid Intelligence is raw intelligence- the ability to solve novel, abstract problems.  It increases through our 30s then begins a precipitous decline in our 40s.  This explains why younger people are more innovative and populate startups and new music genres. Most readers...Read More

Right now, the growth edge I’m working on is learning to become less reactive to everything: unplanned events, weather, traffic, difficult people, politics, taxes, insects, all of it. I just returned from hosting a Wellness Week at Playa Avellana, Costa Rica, where I spent hours watching surfers in the Pacific. Their agility astonished me ‑they...Read More

You must change your life.                                                            Rainer Maria Rilke [1875-1926] Archaic Torso of Apollo Finding myself in the second half of life, I am noticing very different...Read More

Self-control is the chief element in self-respect, and self-respect is the chief element in courage.  Thucydides 460 B.C-395 B.C. Much has been said about fake optimism and that stupid yellow smiley face a year into this pandemic. It is not healthy for us to deny what’s really true for us and stuffing feelings is the...Read More

There is no passion to be found playing small – in settling for a life that is less than the one you are capable of living.                    Nelson Mandela In January 2017, I met my brother John in California for a “Weekend with David Whyte.”  As a...Read More

Many of us have experienced loss, grief, guilt, overwhelm, distress, and confusion in recent weeks.  No two people are in the same situation and our world has become difficult, unpredictable and extreme.  Some have more downtime; others are working more than they ever have.   Here are two strategies to help us be our higher selves...Read More

For many people, holidays bring up a wide range of old and new emotional pain.  One client of mine is spending time with a relative in active addiction; another is facing a belligerent parent.   It can be helpful to have some tools at-the-ready when dealing with our most difficult family members.  Rather than avoid, attack...Read More

When my sister was in the throes of addiction, I did everything I could to try to fix her, make her different. No matter what I did, the outcome was the same: chaos and heartbreak. A client spent hours leading a search for a new director. A well-qualified candidate was selected, but the boss said...Read More