Making Sure I'm Still Here
.... and Life Coaching with Joe
MONDAYS 7pm (et) - new link!
Turning Loneliness Toward Aloneness Everybody wants to belong. That drive, a primal self-defense embedded deep in our psychology, is so strong that when we don’t belong to something it feels empty and frightening. We often interpret that as a failing on our part. Hence, for some of us, being alone is torturous. I would […]
Building the Brain’s Neuroplasticity and Connectivity Through Meditation After Einstein’s passing in 1955, the pathologist performing his autopsy quietly removed his brain. When researchers eventually examined it, they expected something extraordinary—more neurons, unusual size, some physical marker of genius. But by all conventional measures, Einstein’s brain was unremarkable. The one meaningful difference was the […]
When We Give Ourselves Giving of ourselves doesn’t mean getting rid of ourselves for another’s sake. What can we offer if we have nothing to give? Perhaps it’s about loosening our grip so we can offer everything. And by offering everything, we lose nothing — we gain everything. It’s like opening our hands, our arms, […]
When the Universe Falls on Your Shoulders That feeling of overwhelm — when everything seems to reach critical mass — is unsettling. Yet it can also be an invitation: a chance to practice mindfulness within crisis, not apart from it. Often, what we call a “crisis” is simply too many things happening at once for […]
The Power of Love to Heal a Broken World. If we’re unhappy with who we are, how we are, or the world we live in, we must first see our situation clearly before anything can change. The first step is recognition—knowing what’s happening and seeing that whatever arises externally in the world is echoed within […]
Learning to Work with Emotions The idea of the “inner child” may sound simplistic, but it gestures toward something true about being human: our emotional life is often far less sophisticated than our thinking mind wants to understands. The intellect would rather manage, dismiss, or reinterpret emotion than feel it directly. But like any child, […]
THE WILLINGNESS TO CHANGE The bombs fell on their generation as they were born — drums pounding in the night sky, explosions lighting the heavens with fire and rage. Nazi cruelty tried to pound Britain into submission. But sometimes when cruelty strikes deep to the heart, a seed is planted. John Lennon, Keith Richards, Pete […]
THE NARCISSISTIC REFLECTION OF EGO I like to reference Milan kundera’s The Incredible Lightness of Being when discussing ego by reversing the logic to the incredible heaviness of being … me. Ego is a shallow reflection, an inordinately pronounced subset of mind charged with aligning ourselves with the societal acceptance. Shallow as […]
Enough. What does that even mean? How much is ever enough? In a world where scarcity is a commodity, our panic drives us to fill the larder. If less is more, then more is better and the most is the least you should hope for. My late boomer generation felt the sky was our limit […]
MONKMODER DOOMSCROLLING Like monks facing the maelstrom, we have may have our best intentions and ethical training. And yet, we may feel paltry and inadequate standing in the face of hatred and conflict. Our society is currently at war. Those who have chosen a side may have the luxury of being determined and clear. […]