Letter: The Soil Is Doing Its Work
A republished Sunday Stillness letter, from the first warm Sunday of spring.
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#letting-go
The Empty Boat
A story from the Zhuangzi, two thousand years old, about a boat, a river, and a moment of unexpected kindness.
Daily: Begin Again, Without Comment
A small instruction for the practice you have already broken.
On Letting Things Be Hard
A small permission for those of us who have been trying to make every difficulty easier than it actually is.
The Mustard Seed — Kisa Gotami's Story
One of the oldest stories about grief in any tradition. A young mother, her dead son, and an unexpected lesson.
Book Notes: A Grief Observed, by C.S. Lewis
A small book written in the immediate aftermath of unbearable loss. The most honest pages I know on the subject.
Daily: Thank One Thing That Is Leaving
A small autumn practice.
Everything You Love Is on Loan
An attempt to put into words the truth that makes everything more precious, not less.
The Two Monks and the River
An old story about two monks, a young woman, and a man who carried something too far.
The Inbox Is Never Empty (And That's Okay)
A small permission for the person who has been chasing zero for years.
Three Sentences That Have Carried Me Through Hard Days
Not affirmations. Not slogans. Three quiet things I have come back to for years.
The Second Arrow
A teaching from the Buddha about the suffering we add to the suffering we cannot avoid.
Book Notes: When Things Fall Apart, by Pema Chödrön
A book for the kind of week you cannot fix. There is more medicine in it than you will be ready to receive.
On Doing Less
Productivity culture sold us a faster horse. Sometimes the answer is fewer horses.
The Stoic at the Bus Stop
A small story about Epictetus, a missed bus, and a man on his phone.
The Cup Is Already Broken
A story from Ajahn Chah, the Thai forest monk, about the cup on his table.