Very few of us are so privileged that what we do is 100% determined by our own will and desires. And to be honest, those who are, appear to get it wrong most of the time.

Tomorrow is another day, for healing or for staying sick, but always for love.

We tend to put limits on ourselves and each other out of fear of abandonment, or maybe just out of love.

Missing a friend is just one tiny atom of the universe of love we need to survive.

Balance was never meant to be permanent or still. Striving for balance is the human condition.

We always have choices, and when we ground them in values, the loss of what we don’t do is negligible.

We say that death and taxes happen to everyone, but both are deeply determined by political decisions about how well, and how long, our particular social group deserves to live.

A memorable meal at the edge of the sea teaching me to breathe

I take issue with hero worship and kneejerk adulation of skills that just don’t apply. The world is a mess, but no one person can “fix” it or even know what the right thing to do is.

There is a balance. We are of the world and in the world. This means being both in the snow and in the knowledge of wars.

“When I stand next to you, I feel the warmth of your presence and support.”

What does it take to see this kind of magic every day? Honestly? Presence. That’s all.

Humans are hardwired both for self-preservation and for growth. That makes us different from larvae: we are capable of staying in an inchoate state forever, never learning to fly.

It turns out intercontinental relocation, even temporary, is like riding a bicycle: once you start the first movement, the next one is automatic, inexorable.

What will I find when my mind returns to my body? What arises when all else is still? At the most basic level: am I still here?

There is something about the low shy gently warming hazy winter sun that feels miraculous and intimate, in a way the full blast of the summer sun never does.

I am over half a century old. I haven’t always followed a straight path. There is a lot to process. But this processing feels like the rest I need: I am at peace.

No gender equality without a breakdown of the patriarchy. No racial justice without a dismantling of white supremacy. No environmental balance without learning how to live without cars and Amazon Prime.

The opposite of anxiety isn’t calm, it is trust.

We spend the majority of our time fighting our bodies: getting up before we are ready, rushing through work before we fully understand its consequences, paying only perfunctory attention to each other.