The Wake Up Call for Lawyers

This mind! Left unattended, mine does such strange things. When I've done something well, I'm self-congratulatory. When I haven't, disapproval and self-blame are right there. Is there a way to tame the mind so it's less reactive? A way to be "unmoved" by praise or blame? Is that even the goal? That's what today's Wake Up Call is all about. Enjoy.

Have you noticed how sometimes friends help you celebrate your triumphs, drown your sorrows, and rail against the small injustices of the day: the traffic, someone else's rudeness, the latest mask mandates? And then, how there are true best friends? Who do all that, but also remind you that things are just as they are, that drowning your sorrows isn't always as helpful as letting the tea...

Last week the Fool, this week the Sage. What is the Sage, or maybe, Who is the Sage? And can we make it easier for ourselves to listen to them? And what are we listening for? No answers but hopefully some good questions, on today's podcast.

The Fool is an ancient symbol. Some people say it's the image of innocence and openness. Others say it's the image of delirium. From a mindfulness perspective, when we get caught up in wealth and pride, we're all delirious Fools, ignorant rather than innocent. When we remember our last pair of pants have no pockets, we're free. Check out whether or not that's true, on toda...

Should  lawyers try to master the world? Yes! Or, in a way. But not in a "Tom Wolfe, Bonfire of the Vanities," Master of the Universe, kind of way. In a way that's about becoming aware of the perfectly ordinary, grasping, anxious, need-to-be-right, mind. And then in a way that's about cultivating counterweights like generosity, kindness, patience, and compassion.  As we do that...

Yesterday I spent the morning in a virtual probate courtroom. What an interesting experience. In thirty years of practicing law in person, I don't think I ever saw the nooks & crannies of people's courtroom faces as clearly as I did yesterday. It was interesting that immediately, I started to judge. Do you do that? I decided which lawyers were comfortable and which ones weren't...

The truth is, for so many years I loved my restless mind. Whenever things were about as busy as they could get, and then got a little crazier, I loved it. I felt like I was in top form, saving the world. Do you ever have that feeling? From a mindfulness perspective, the problem with that "save the day!" state of mind is that it can obscure things. As often as it feels laser sharp, it can...

Here we are in the U.S., about to celebrate another Independence Day, celebrating our freedom from the tyranny of a king. But we all know there are other tyrannies afoot.  Definitely, let's celebrate, but let's celebrate something even more hopeful: our ability to cultivate our own hearts and minds so that we can remember that we're not so much independent as inter-dependent, and th...

Do you ever notice there's a stickiness to the unkind things you say or do? How they stay with you, a kind of grief or remorse following you throughout the day, or through life? And how the same thing's true for the kind things: a moment later, and even years later, there's a kind of rejoicing and gladness that comes right back up, when you remember having been kind. On this episode...

“Where Quarrels End” is the topic for today’s episode, which seems odd since in the law, quarrels never really end and I don't even know if they’re supposed to end. And yet. What if we thought about ending our quarrels? In an adversary system, is that a contradiction in terms, or is there a way to be a fierce advocate and also not quarrel so much with one another? Or with life in general?

I'd like to think I can get away with being careless every so often, but the truth is, I can see how the slightest edge in my voice, the tiniest amount of anger or ill will, is obvious to everyone and just leads to more of the same. It's nice that the opposite is also true: kindness leads to kindness. I notice I can even topple my anger, with love. In this episode, what does any of that...

Usually we're very much in the middle of things, which makes it hard to step back for a broader perspective. Yet without that step back, our work can suffer, the people around us can suffer, and we can, too. Stepping back is a way of noticing what's happening in the present moment from a clearer, less personal, perspective. It feels essential, self-compassionate, and full of wisdom. On t...

There's a certain clarity that can arise when equanimity is present and we drop our objections to the present moment, and our doubts about our own good hearts. From there it's possible to drop into life in the fullest and most powerful way, looking inside and remembering the intentions to be present and do no harm, and then looking up, rolling up our sleeves, and getting to the work of s...

This moment, with its seemingly endless dangers and sorrows, calls for practices that can support equanimity like the G.R.O.U.N.D. practice we've been unpacking. Today's episode looks at the "N" of G.R.O.U.N.D. "N" is an invitation to "notice" that when you're G - grounded, R-, at rest, O-open, and U-unclenched, there's an innate peace of mind that...

There's a way in which we can find ourselves fighting with our own experience: knowing we're frustrated or anxious, yet wanting to feel something different: more calm, safer, and free. When this fighting stance spills over into everyday life, difficult moments can feel even worse. This episode explores the question, what if we could relax just a little bit more, even with the hard stuff?...

In this practice of G.R.O.U.N.D., we've explored G, connecting to the earth and to each other and becoming more grounded in place and in community; and R, resting in the present moment (plus some strategies for that). On this episode of the Wake Up Call, the inquiry is about O, opening to whatever is here. Opening to whatever is here, to what's in front of us, around us, inside us, is a...

Does it seem like there's still/always so much going on? It does to me. What if we could rest in the middle of it all? What if we had a "practice" of resting, throughout the day, and we still got everything done? That's the inquiry on this episode of the Wake Up Call. Enjoy.

Another big week and this time some good news, with the Chauvin verdict and the Minnesota Attorney General's powerful speech. Keith Ellison invited us to create transformation in the law: "empathetic, compassionate, and affirming" were his words. Can mindfulness move us closer to that transformation? I think so. Listen to this episode of the Wake Up Call. See if you agree.

Last week we looked at a classic portable mindfulness practice, S.T.O.P. This week, let's take it back to the cushion. With so much happening, plus life beginning to open up, things can feel confusing, even conflicted. How can we explore the experience of confusion and conflict on the cushion, in solitary practice, and then turn that exploration into something we can rely on as we venture out...

By the time of this Wake Up Call, we'd all be so careful for so long. It had been exhausting but also, safe. The question was, how were people feeling about venturing out? Some days I had the balance, the equilibrium, to do it. Sometimes not. Equanimity helped.  Equanimity can support openness to experience: the experience of connecting and of retreat; the experience of suffering, and of joy....

The intention was to start unpacking equanimity slowly, from the beginning, starting with today's Wake Up Call. However, that's not what happened. Instead, events overtook me and I ended up writing about what I learned from my mom about equanimity at the end of a life. It's a stretch to share but it's what I've got. And who knows? Maybe it'll end up being an interesti...

Today's Wake Up Call fell on the official one-year anniversary of the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. The questions that were alive were, what can we do to mark this incredibly sad moment? And how can we do that and retain, or locate, our sense of balance, poise, equanimity?  Equanimity is the fourth of the four most treasured qualities of mind. What does equanimity look like right now when t...

What would it be like to be happy for the difficult people in our lives? It's almost too strange to contemplate. Yet if we do contemplate it, and practice it, not only does it liberate us from feelings of anger, jealousy, and ill will. It also creates safety for those "others" to experience and express their joy - safety that might not otherwise be available. Which still begs the qu...

The law (and the world) divides us: good & bad, our side & theirs, friends & enemies. Hopefully it's not difficult to be happy for our friends, and to wish them well. But, what about the other side, or the enemy? Today's Wake Up Call explores whether it's even possible to have goodwill for the "bad guys" and for those we just flat out don't like. Plus, why...

This Wake Up Call is about comparing mind. Comparing gets in the way of joy. Yet comparing is ubiquitous in the law. Plus it's one or the other - we can be joyful or we can cultivate (or default to) a comparing mind. But we can't do both. So the question for this episode is, how do we let joy win?