Ellen and I spend a lot of time wondering about things that some people call psychological or spiritual. Like, I was making lunch today and I thought, “Wow, when we die and don’t have bodies anymore, we won’t have anything to worry about. It seems like it will be all about connecting.” Ellen said, “No […]
Independence, freedom, liberty — these are the battle cries that founded this country two and a half centuries ago. Such words stir the passions and fill the imagination with images of a perfect world in which we are able to be whatever we wish to be. These words generate idealism to the point that […]
As I describe to patients the life changes they can make to improve their health, I frequently get the impression that I am Dante describing the journey down through the various levels of Hell. Somehow or other the thought of having to change one’s behavior in order to get different results is not embraced by […]
We are born into this world completely clueless and helpless. Most other species have at least the ability to move about and seek food from the moment of birth, while all we have is a basic rooting reflex that causes us to try suckling anything that touches our lips. Our initial survival is pretty […]
The topic around the house this last week or so has been on suffering. This has been a favorite topic intermittently over the last 25 years or so, but this time it was different. This time, on her own, Ellen made the profound realization that all the suffering in her life has come from her […]
As I review Heartflow coaching cases that Ellen has done on clients, I have been noticing a pattern of motivation driving behaviors and feelings clients want to change that are based on loneliness. This perspective of viewing feelings and behaviors is new for me. Most of the time I see the source of people’s unhappiness […]
There was an old story I read once that went like this: An old farmer was talking to his neighbor about how his son was on the roof a couple days ago repairing holes when he slipped and fell off the roof and broke his leg. The neighbor was very concerned for his friend. He […]