Keeping the Appointment & Farewell to Mary Oliver

A note from Carl: I had just finished writing today’s email about Mary Oliver, and was about to hit send when I saw the news that she died today at 83. My heart is raw with appreciation and loss. What a gift her life brought to the world… I love the story of an interviewer asking Mary Oliver how she…

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Leaning on Rilke; Farewell, Praise & Good Questions

A note from Erin: Hello friends! I’m sitting here at my desk, reveling in the extra-jubilant bird song that’s happening just outside my window this morning. I think the sparrows, finches, chickadees, and starlings are celebrating the return of the light, as am I, even though it’s a muted gray-sky day. The return of the…

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Solstice Greetings + Grief & Praise

A note from Carl: A very Happy Solstice to you! Before I begin this week’s writing, we want to wish you the happiest of holidays. We are grateful for your presence in our lives. We are both so excited for 2019 and have many offerings coming, including Erin’s New Year retreat day, Embodied Listening Course (and she’s…

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Please Tell Me, What Do You Love?

A note from Erin A few years back, we traveled to Tucson, AZ, to attend a retreat with clinical psychologist and meditation teacher Tara Brach, whom we adore. We were invited to do a particularly touching practice on the final afternoon of the retreat. We each partnered with a stranger and spent 5 minutes each in the following inquiry: The…

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An Invitation to Embody Gratitude (With a nod to sacred rage)

Hello, friends, Many years ago my heart was pierced when reading Francis Weller’s statement, “The work of the mature person is to carry grief in one hand and gratitude in the other, and to be stretched large by them. How much sorrow can I hold? That’s how much gratitude I can give.”   Funny how one sentence can…

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