#164 – Couldn't we be happy no matter what?Yesterday's mini-essay contained an oversimplification: I wrote, "he's invested so much in this future that he forces himself to taste sweetness."Stating that Chekhov's character Nikolay "forces himself to t...

#163 – How can you create your future from your present?When dreams of "ideal scenarios" spur us into action, they act as a lever we can use in the present to create our future. But how do we ensure these dreams serve as catalysts rather than traps o...

#162 – What's your source of disappointment?Every time you experience disappointment, it's because you'd dreamed up something (or someone), and then reality didn't unfold as you had pictured.Your child didn't disappoint you with their grades; no...

#161 – What's the Ghost of Isolation's busiest time of the year?All the Ghosts wring their hands in anticipation whenever the Ego sends them to work on you. They love their jobs: that warm feeling when they whisper in your ears the things you should...

#160 – What happens when you don't look away?You've heard it before: the only way is through.But fear – that powerful self-protection-driven emotion that our Egos have us feel so that we don't change – sometimes makes us look away.I don't want to die...

#159 – How does gratitude change your experience?"Imagine a world in which your entire possession is one raspberry and you give it to your friend." Gerda Weissman Klein, Polish-American writer, concentration camp survivor.Giving is so fulfilling for...

#158 – How your preferences make you unhappy"The Great Way [Dao] is not difficult for those who have no preference." Seng Ts'an, the Third Chinese Patriarch of ZenWomen of my generation were brought up to believe that "conformism" was the worst of fe...

#157 –To what extent are our goals driven by status?Yesterday, writing about the Hermès Birkin handbag (with price points anywhere between $22,000 and $225,000) left me wondering: would I ever want to own one?The answer is no. But why? At this point...

#156 – What's the point of setting goals?Goals, when based on the inspiration your True Self receives, are a gravitational force. You're inspired to write that novel, start that foundation, or do that type of work, and everything in your life seems t...

#155 – Why is it so hard to hear 'no?'Because asking takes courage. And if we do it and we're told 'no,' we feel crushed.Your Ego has convinced you that asking (especially for help) puts you in an inferior position. If you ask, it's because you need....