A Man Named Mooji

We all have our passions in life. For some it’s primping their poodle for a dog show, for some it’s knowing all the characters in Downton Abbey, and for others it’s collecting crystals. For me, it’s following spiritual teachers ...

Lit Up and on Fire

Every Wednesday evening, a small group of friends meet at my house for “Popcorn, Wine and Meditation.” The name of our group is a way of saying that none of us take ourselves too seriously (we don’t actually drink wine, except me ...

Muscle Memory

I tentatively step from the solid floor onto the ice rink. Over a hundred tiny kids, a few teenagers, and one or two grown ups are buzzing around the rink in varying degrees of control. With everyone going counter-clockwise, it’s like ...

Death Wish

It’s a rough day on the North Shore of Maui. Driving to Baldwin Beach, I pass by Ho’okipa, the famous windsurfing beach, where the waves are at least 15-feet high. I almost drive off the road trying to watch the surfers. From this ...

Tectonic Shift

When I was in my early thirties and a cocky young art history professor living in Toronto, Canada, the editor of artscanada asked me to write a feature article on Gershon Iskowitz, one of Canada’s foremost painters. I knew ...

The Joy of Yelling

I love yelling. Just about every day I get to yell at the top of my lungs far out in the ocean and then laugh hysterically at the tragedy and the hilarity of life. These are not wimpy yells; they’re from the gut, give it ...

Footprints in the Sand

Footprints in the Sand There’s a well-worn expression amongst those who live on the islands, and those that dream about living on them. It’s the idea that “Life’s a Beach,” a life of sun, sand, ocean, warm ...

Gutsy Girls

We probably shouldn’t have gone out in the ocean that day; it was pretty rough. But, as Jeff Bridges says in the movie Crazy Heart, “We had fun. Nobody died.” When I wrote a blog about “Guys in Gratitude,” I shared how my swim friends ...

Lemons to Melons

Lemons to Melons Something very beautiful happens to people when their world has fallen apart: a humility, a nobility, a higher intelligence emerges at just the point when our knees hit the floor. Marianne Williamson I’m just not good ...

My Worst Fear

Sooner or later it happens to all of us. I’m in my very first “home health care” store. You know, the ones with the crutches and bedpans in the window. I’m waiting for my appointment with James, who is going to set me up with a ...