In one celebrated case from Ethiopia, a pride of lions came across a group of men who had kidnapped a teenage girl, possibly for sale in the sex trade.. The lions ran the men off and sat around the girl until people came to find her. Then they quickly left. What explains their behavior? What can we learn from them about ourselves? Continue reading
At the personal, social or international level, our sense of being separate individuals adrift in an uncaring world drives us to seek control, when what we usually need is connection. Continue reading
Good and bad; it’s all on the Internet. Whatever you ’re drawn to, whatever you respond to or like, the programs will send you more of. The things you click on, you will receive over and over. If you respond to posts that make you feel bad, you create more opportunities to feel bad. Is life like that, or isn’t it? Continue reading
Most times, “why” doesn’t matter. There’s nothing we can do about what has already happened. Why did your company downsize your job? Why did I get multiple sclerosis? I can wonder, but what difference does it make? The point is deciding what to do now. Continue reading
There is more going on in your body at this very moment than in all of downtown Tokyo at rush hour. Continue reading
If you’re like most people, you have no idea how much you are loved. But you are, and I can prove it. Continue reading
Why don’t we spend more time in our bodies? Life has lots of ways to separate us, to send us on long trips into worlds of thought, emotion, or pure distraction, trips from which we may never come bac.k Continue reading
Recognizing that we don’t own our feelings can be intensely liberating. Feelings come from somewhere. They are a reaction to something, but they are not our property. My usual reaction to the world’s problems is sadness or melancholy. The sadness is real, but it is not mine. Focusing on sadness is just a habit I’ve picked up. Nothing bad will happen to me or anyone else if I put it down for a while. Continue reading
“Do not confuse value with permanence.” – Irvin Yalom Charlie Jane Anders hosts the Writers with Drinks literary events every month at San Francisco’s Make Out Room. The dimly lit club drips with streamers, glitter, a jumble of art work … Continue reading
