The Wake Up Call for Lawyers

Recently I said something snarky and it got back to the person. For the whole day, I dreaded what would happen. When the worst did happen, I felt even worse: a slow, painful remembering of how imperfect I am, despite all the striving. And of how perfection is not even a thing, no matter how much I strive.   In a funny way, dread helped me. In fact, dread was the most helpful thing. Without dread,...

I hear a lot about sending love to humans, being kind and appreciative and compassionate to teachers, loved ones, friends…even enemies.   I hear less about sending love to the earth. Yet of all beings (if the earth is a being, and isn’t she?), doesn’t the earth deserve love, too? Doesn’t she deserve appreciation, and for once, instead of extracting from her, for us to give her our best, our love,...

Are we “cultivating” love, compassion, and joy, or do we already have plenty and just need to access it?   If we have plenty, and just need to learn how to access it, what’s in the way of doing that? For me, it’s wanting to hold onto the things that are working, and wanting all the really awful moments to end: all that wanting for things to be different, instead of learning to be “in” love right i...

There’s “ordinary” news: market whiplash; leadership/not leadership; greed, hatred, and delusion.   But there’s sweet news, too: the child of a friend and benefactor who cleans houses for living - a child who’s been planning to be a lawyer since they were five - got into Princeton undergrad with a full ride. Princeton, full ride, with a solid foundation of love and goodness underneath them:  leade...

When I feel committed, it gives me purpose, energy, direction. But to fulfill my commitment, especially if someone else is committed to the opposite cause, I need to understand all angles, all sides. I need to not let disdain and scorn and hate get in my way It's a lot like practicing law.    Attachment feels different.  It feels like a clingy state. There’s something I want, I think I know w...

Signaling that we’re mindful, whether we’re speaking, writing, posting, or messaging, is simple. There’s no lying, denying, or blame. There’s no harm done. We’re remembering that what we say and do, matters. We’re not gossiping, just sharing what’s needed. And everything we say is kind. It’s simple, but maybe not easy.  If it were, I feel like more of us would be mindful, whether we’re talking to...

What is an appropriate response when I get something I don’t want, or don’t get what I do want? Bully the person I “think” is responsible? Chastise, criticize, frighten, and ruin them I’m following the Chief Justice and going with no. At least from a mindfulness perspective - and I’m guessing this is obvious: it’s the age-old processes of listening patiently and with compassion, remembering we’re...

I don’t know what we can do in this moment except stay in the boat, and when we get tossed into the ocean, grab the hull and crawl back inside to safety. That’s how it feels to me right now. But I wonder if there’s another way to safety. Maybe it’s too odd of an idea, but what if we could create peace in the middle of chaos, by wishing everyone well. Not as a discernment practice (you deserve my w...

Emotions are running high. Western mindfulness, quoting Rumi, says, ill will, anger, even hate: “Welcome and entertain them all….They may be clearing us out for some new delight.” The ancient mindfulness texts aren’t as big on this. They say, the path to liberation is to abandon ill will. Give it up! Let it go as if it’s burning your hand – because it is. Rumi sounds like a good, careful, idea. Le...

If breath is the focus, the anchor, refuge from an uncertain world, then maybe love is the antidote. I’m not saying I know much about love other than that it feels absent in so many places, and crucial in even more.   I do know that love isn’t about two (or three or four) humans and our stary-eyed moments. It's about finding some way to keep our hearts open, available, and un-barnacled. It&ap...

I’m wondering about patience these days: accepting that things are what they are. I’ve studied and tried to practice that kind of patience with friends and family and colleagues and students and the everyday vicissitudes of life,  and even with myself. And all of that’s one thing.   But then there’s the news. And Anthony Romero’s suggestion (he runs the ACLU) that if all else fails, “we may have t...

This isn’t a moment when I can pay attention all the time:  sometimes I just need to turn away, or walk away.  But whether I’m engaged or disengaged,   wisdom and love have their place. The question I’m working with is,  how do I meet each moment with three wise intentions: to let go of wanting things to be different,  because right now, they just are how they are; to be kind and loving, no matter...

When I think of faith, it’s often faith in someone or something. But these days I’m thinking of faith in terms of believing that if I keep practicing, and we all keep practicing, then we’ll know the appropriate response, meaning, the right thing to say or do. The right thing in our day-to-day lives, for sure. But also the right thing in a bigger sense. In other words, faith that all of this sittin...

I have these moments when I feel like I should be doing more. Or at least doing something. But right now I’m not sure what to do, or how, or when.   So instead, right now, for now, I’m taking care of myself.  I’m practicing, I’m spending time in nature,  I’m spending time with friends and family and the puppy. Doing less. Resting up. Taking refuge.   But there will come a time when what to do,  an...

There are two ways I can see to relate to the world right now, if this is a moment that feels distressful.   One is to be bothered by the world and also by the distress, and to work from that perspective… possibly with success,  but also with dismay, disapproval, disdain.   The other is to not be bothered by anything, not even distress, and to be kind to ourselves and everyone else, remembering th...

I care, and then I turn away. I get busy, or I lose interest, or the crisis stops affecting me directly or never did,  and I let my attention slip away. I’m being honest, but I’m not glad about it, because what I really want is to keep my heart open, and keep my attention focused on whoever I can support. Not by losing myself or getting overwhelmed or letting my own wellbeing slip, but by creating...

I feel like I spend a lot of time – too much time –  thinking I understand. Maybe we all do, even when we know  everyone’s understandings are different. At the same time I think most of us know there’s a lot we can’t see.  It feels helpful to keep that in mind, and to keep an open, “don’t know” mind, and be learning and surprised by each moment. Because even when the surprises aren’t good, at leas...

We could say that,  depending on our political beliefs, beliefs about climate emergency, relationships to inequity, inner and outer resources, and what comes our way, our 2025 theme – the quality of heart and mind we’ll be working with and cultivating - is a forgone conclusion. But what if we don’t say that? What if we chose our theme, intentionally and regardless? Decide that this year our theme...

Because there is always faith. It might be faith in our abilities. It might be faith in the wisdom that’s available to us every once in a while. It might be faith in cause and effect: the way that, when we express frustration, no one is happy, and when we express love, people care. Or it might be faith that the earth will take care of herself, No matter what we humans cook up, or, if that’s too bi...

Sometimes I naturally notice the calm and peacefulness of the closing of the year. More often there’s so much going on, either in my own life or around me, that I feel restless, worried, a kind of agitation of body and mind that clouds my thinking and makes it difficult to settle. For me the thing that helps most is creating space: space to breath, in the middle of a busy day, time for a walk, ind...

Sometimes I have an endless supply of energy. But there are also times when   my mind is sluggish, not bright. Life feels exhausting or boring or blah. Does this happen for you?   The good thing is, when I turn my attention to the blah feeling itself, my mind wakes up. I can see how sluggish I feel, but I can also see that it’s temporary, and even get interested in it, as yet another fascinating s...

I have this image of myself as being mindful,  sitting above the fray.    In my dreams. The truth is, I’m not above the fray at all, because the fray is my own mind. For example, it’s never my intention  to be blindsided by hate or greed. But I do get blindsided - in the sense that when they show up, I can’t see. My clarity is gone. They are the fray. So I do what I can, like I’m guessing we all d...

I want to say this is the season for gratitude, and that’s not wrong, but I’m also not 100%. I’m grateful, and I’m also confused and fearful and nauseous.  Or I’m pedaling fast and furious, or hiding behind my screen. Greed, hatred, exhaustion, restlessness, doubt: they all co-exist in this heart and mind right now, alongside gratitude.   So the question I’m asking myself is, how do I create enoug...

I’m finding that right now, practice can be challenging. It’s hard to get up an hour early in the dark. But that’s often the case.   The bigger challenge right now is not the early dark mornings. It’s the lack of clarity that arises when  anger, impatience, and fear take over my sit, or my day.   That’s why right now, I’m understanding a little bit better the wisdom of all the great teachers,  who...

Whether you’re celebrating right now or mourning, I feel like the best idea might be to just take a breath.   Maybe you’re thinking about what’s next, gathering friends, gathering forces. Amazing. And, wouldn’t it be good if we could all just take a collective breath?   There will be time. There is time. Right now, can we take care of ourselves and the people we love? Can we go to our cushions, ou...