Category: Personal Development
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Home Is Where My Brother Is
While driving home after an evening spent producing a Skype conversation for Omega’s Ecstatic Chant between Ram Dass in Hawaii and Jai Uttal with Shyamdas in New York, I was struck with the realization that everywhere in the world could potentially be home. Home, for me, is no longer defined by my familiarity with my surroundings,…
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Why Food Is the New Rock ‘n’ Roll
There’s a resurgence going on in America. Organic. Local-food culture. Farm-to-table. Chefs are celebrities. Reality cooking and baking shows are on every cable channel. Food is the new rock ‘n’ roll. I am a rock chick at heart. I worked in record stores when they were still called record stores. I worked for a music…
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Finding the Power of Being Quiet
“Our culture made a virtue of living only as extroverts. We discouraged the inner journey, the quest for a center. So we lost our center and have to find it again.” -Anais Nin While sitting alone in a little restaurant in Tivoli to finish reading Susan Cain’s book about introverts, my quiet afternoon was interrupted…
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Freedom From My Bullshit
When you look up the transitive verb “accept” in the dictionary, you will find the following definitions: to receive willingly <accept a gift> to give admittance or approval to <accept as one of a group> to endure without protest or reaction <accept poor living conditions> to recognize as true: believe <refused to accept the explanation> to make a favorable response to <accept an offer> to agree to undertake (a…
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Who Put the ‘Tude in Gratitude?
During my first few years of college, I worked at a record store, an art supply store and later a book store. I listened to Throwing Muses on the bus, painted expressionistic portraits of friends and wrote poetry in coffee shops while smoking cigarettes. I wore red lipstick and black eyeliner. My hair was wild and…
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I Left the City But the City Didn’t Leave Me
I have a very vivid impression of being a little girl playing in the sandbox with my best friend when I looked up at the clouds in the sky and told her that when I grew up, I was going to live in a big city far away from the backyard wonderland of Northeast Ohio.…
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Regrets? I’ve Had a Few…
Regret can be your worst enemy or your best friend. You get to decide which. — Martha Beck I live my life with the intention to always grow and evolve, but there have been many times I’ve failed. I am human, after all. I prefer not to dwell in the space of regret, but a few exceptions…
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Why Being Sick Reminds Me of Vampires
I’m cold and then I’m hot. There’s pressure building up in my head like a shaken soda bottle before twisting off the cap. My throat is scratchy and sore. My body is having a temper tantrum, demanding my attention, but I don’t like being sick. There’s a language around being sick that subtly feels like…
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Does Your Emotional Baggage Fill a Suitcase?
I’ve spent the weekend unpacking and getting settled in my new home in Rhinebeck. For the past two weeks I’ve been living out of a couple suitcases, first at a friend’s condo, then my mom’s and finally sleeping on an air mattress in an empty cottage waiting for the arrival of my things. The first…
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Who Should I Compare You To?
Sizing up the competition is a well-known concept used to determine your opponent’s strengths and weaknesses so you can win. It’s a never-ending cycle of getting the upper hand. If someone’s on top, somebody else is on the bottom and everything revolves around making sure you’re on top. It’s a principle based on a belief…
Let It Bespoken 