I sleep with books now. Sleeping with books wasn’t something I planned nor was it something I was aware of wanting to do. But it seems there was always some memory or picture in my mind of doing so — perhaps taken from the scene of a movie or from my former Scandinavian lifestyle.

In the past, I’ve never been able to sleep with books — which I promise is delightful — because I’ve always been sleeping next to a man. But there they are now, books and notebooks scattered around my bed, stacked in piles on the floor, and grouped together like high-rise buildings on my mother’s cedar chest. Presently I’m sleeping with a copy of Haruki Murakami’s Kafka On The Shore, Benjamin Dryer’s Dryer’s English, Hemingway’s Moveable Feast, Mary Gabriel’s Ninth Street Women, and Laure K. Denton’s Hurricane Season.

It’s cozy and romantic being able to wake up on a chilly morning and reach for a book without leaving the bed. It is equally comforting falling to sleep with an open copy of Daniel Silva on my pillow.

The Danish have a philosophy about such comfort and coziness. It’s called hygge and involves candlelight, big woolen socks, blankets, hot chocolate, and of course a good book. Hygge is even better if there is a storm blowing outside. But hygge is not so much a ritual, it’s a lifestyle. It’s a big comfy sweater that we can wrap ourselves in after work or on the weekend when we seek comfort, and to be reminded of simple pleasures.

I also have scores of journals and notebooks. They are little treasures waiting to hold some written truths or fictions. There are no less than five of them in colorful varieties. Some are bound in leather and a few are Moleskines. All of them waiting patiently for me to record moments of my pleasure and pain.

This is one of the things I love about being single. I have the independence to follow my bliss unencumbered.

If you wish to learn more about Hygge, see this wonderful article in Mashable on the commercialization of Hygge.

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I have great business associates — it turns out that most of them are women. On a Tuesday afternoon in October, I had the good fortune to speak with two of them. The conversation was familiar and light. We were coming down from our summer vacation high and now enthused by what we see as an active future. We’re making connections.

There was talk of arts and artists, lovely autumn weather and summer getaways. We spoke about climate change, politics, publishing, and the things women are doing to stop the madness permeating our society. The world needs healing and women have ideas.

The first call I received was from artist, Betsy Silverman. I interviewed Betsy in 2018 for Venü Magazine. Betsy works on commission making personal collages of street scenes in Boston, portraits, and special requests. To say she works with collage is really underselling what she does — her work is composed of hundreds of tiny slips of color and messages cut from recycled art magazines. Her end product is a stunning architectural composition that most people mistake for a photoshopped photograph.

Presently Betsy is working on an eight-foot composition for a new restaurant in Boston, Woods Hill Table, owned by another mover and shaker, Kristin Canty. Canty is a nationally acclaimed filmmaker, farm owner, advocate for small farmers, restaurateur, and an avid proponent of ancestral foods. I love that these two ladies are not only supporting themselves by their passion but also supporting each other. Woods Hill Table features a farm-to-table menu and is slated to open in Boston in November 2019.

My second phone conversation came on the heels of the first. Coincidentally, it was from Tracey Thomas, publisher of Venü. I told Tracey of my ideas for upcoming articles, including a piece on the book, Ninth Street Women, which is a brilliant tome exploring the lives and work of Lee Krasner, Elaine de Kooning, Grace Hartigan, Joan Mitchell, and Helen Frankenthaler. My reading of the book happens to coincide with a current exhibition at Boston’s MFA, Women Take The Floor.

After so many political setbacks over the last three years, it’s good to see women getting some recognition for the work they do. After decades, finally these artists are making their way into the annals of art history. But still, there is a lot of work to be done. Why were these brilliant, talented, artists excluded in the first place? We know the answer to that. We’ve been behind a wall of patriarchy.

“That’s why I always try to support emerging women artists,” said Tracey. And indeed she does. Additionally, the articles and profiles included in Venü aren’t predicated by who advertises in the publication’s pages. Selection is made based on talent, hard work, and great stories. I was reminded, and am proud to take part in, a magazine that is a woman-run publication.

Every now and again, I see an article online about how women-of-a-certain-age will run the world. Each article (NBC, NYT, TODAY, WSJ, MIT) sites how women now in their 40s, 50s, and 60s are the drivers of society.

“One of the greatest under-appreciated sources of innovation and new business may, in fact, be women over 50 with new ideas, lots of life ahead of them and with the verve to get it done,” said Joseph F. Coughlin, director of the AgeLab at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology during an interview with TODAY.

Despite our education, innovation, and experience; the fact that we control household spending, health care decisions, and start businesses; and our vibrance, intelligence, talent, and longevity advantage, we are usually ghosted because of an age number. Or simply because we are women.

Murray Whyte, of the Boston Globe, writes in a recent article regarding the MFA’s Women Take The Floor exhibition, the MFA presents some 100 “women artists” and includes, “Alice Neel, whose moody, forthright portraiture was largely ignored by the art world until she was well into her 70s; Louise Bourgeois, the French artist now seen as the grand-dame of proto-feminist art, barely acknowledged until she reached senior citizenship; Carmen Herrera, the great abstract painter whose first major museum retrospective came three years ago at the Whitney, shortly after her 101st birthday; Luchita Hurtado, whose lush, playful figurative and abstract works will be the subject of her first international retrospective next year, just as she turns 100; and Georgia O’Keeffe, who’s everywhere all the time and has been almost since the moment she arrived in New York more than a century ago.”

Reading the above quote, one might come to the conclusion that I am wrong and that women are getting recognition, but Whyte continues with a few statistics, “The best strategy for career success for woman artists appears to be to live long enough to see it. Though waiting — and waiting, and waiting — has never been much of a guarantee. One-for-five, in fact, is disproportionately generous.

“Let’s move on to a little more complex math: 96 percent of all art sold at auction is by men. Forty-six percent of American artists are women, but 13 percent of American art museum holdings are by women.

“And the MFA? Notably worse. Women account for only 8 percent of its collection. You might think it’s because of a largely historical collection, weighted toward eras — pretty much all of them — when art was deemed near-exclusively masculine territory. Well, yes, but: Of the almost 40,000 works acquired by the museum in the past decade — right here in the 21st century — more than 90 percent were by men.”

What the fuck?

Gloria Steinem has a new book coming out. The Truth Will Set You Free, But First It Will Piss You Off is also illustrated by one of my favorite artists, Samantha Dion Baker.  It is a collection of Steinem’s most inspirational quotes, with a new introduction and essays. The book is available now for preorder and is slated for release on October 29, 2019.

I’d like to provide a quote by Steinem via her interview with The Oprah Magazine regarding her new book. It seems to sum up everything I’ve been writing about here.

“If we just stop looking up at leaders, and begin to look at each other, we find our power.”

Yes, let’s do that instead. Because if we wait for male leadership, we’ll be waiting another 100 years.

*Featured image: Lee Krasner, Combat, 1965

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There is a concept, known as biophilia, introduced by American biologist E. O. Wilson in 1984, that humans have an innate need to connect with nature. Wilson believed that because we evolved in nature, we have a biological imperative to be close to it, and this affinity with the natural world is fundamental to our health and well-being.

Experts in forest therapy say that being in the forest reduces stress and blood pressure, strengthens your immune and cardiovascular systems, and boosts your energy, mood, creativity, and concentration. In addition to the philosophy of forest bathing, or what the Japanese call shinrin-yoku, there is some compelling science behind it as well.

I am reminded of my own experiences in nature — in my youth, running through the woods behind my childhood home, later enjoying the Swedish forest, and most recently my trips to Jamaica Pond and the Arnold Arboretum in Boston.

I’ve always been drawn to trees and found them to be somehow soul healing. As I write this article for Venü, my body seems to remember the way I feel in nature. My breath slows and deepens. My muscles relax and my state of being is one of contentment. Does being out in nature also leave us with body memory lasting after we have come back indoors?

Forest bathing is a practice, not an event. It doesn’t include hiking, jogging, or getting wet. It’s only requirement is simply being out in nature. Being still. Opening up your senses to what is around you and noticing as your body responds to your surroundings. Perhaps you wish to meander down a certain path. Or stop to notice the patterns made under a snow-covered bush. Following your desires of exploration is part of the beauty of forest bathing. It is an activity that can be enjoyed year-round as each season has its own unique personality and offers us an abundance of natural gifts from observing the opening of the spring buds to experiencing the quiet of a snowfall. We are encouraged to take our time. There is no destination or end goal.

According to Dr. Qing Li, one of the world’s leading experts in shinrin-yoku, in Japan, both official religions — Shinto and Buddhism — believe that the forest is the realm of the divine. For Zen Buddhists, scripture is written outside in nature. In Shinto, it is believed that spirits reside in nature. Nature is not separate from mankind, it is a part of us.

In Scandinavia, the forest is also revered. A Scandinavian lifestyle includes an abundance of outdoor life. In Finland, seventy-five percent of the landmass is covered in forest and many regard mushroom hunting and berry picking as lifestyle activities. Forest bathing, although not previously known by that name, has always been a way of life in the Scandinavian countries.

Ninety-seven percent of Sweden is uninhabited, and national parks and reserves cover one-tenth of the country’s landmass. More than eighty-percent of Swedes live within five kilometers of a nature reserve or a national park, and because of allemansrätten — the guaranteed right of access — land is open to all. Residents can often simply walk outside their door to find a natural setting.

A good amount of my time in Gothenburg was spent at the city park, and I was fortunate that from my apartment I was able to access a number of wooded areas and forests. I remain convinced that there are magical things in those forests.

Enjoying not only the mental health and spiritual aspects of forest bathing, practitioners of shinrin-yoku, also seem to benefit in physiological ways. According to Dr. Qing Li, the health secrets of forest bathing seem to lie in two areas — a higher oxygen concentration that exists in the forest, and the presence of plant chemicals called phytoncides.

…

Have you enjoyed this excerpt? See my upcoming article in Venü Magazine, Winter Issue, 2019. I’ll provide a live link upon publication. In the meanwhile, here are a few of the books and resources I used for this piece.

Forest Bathing: How Trees Can Help You Find Health and Happiness. By Dr. Ging Li. 

The Secret Therapy of Trees: Harness the Healing Energy of Forest Bathing and Natural Landscapes. By Marco Mencagli

Your Guide to Forest Bathing: Experience the Healing Power of Nature. By M. Amos Clifford

The Association of Nature and Forest Therapy – Guides and Programs.

Shinrin-yoku, The medicine of being in the forest:  Free forest bathing starter kit.

Forest Bathing Central: Forest bathing in the winter.

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When women are left out of the annals of art history only half of our collective human history is being told. A study of art history shows us not only visual representations of any given artist’s oeuvre –– and it’s not just about analyzing the technique or talent of that artist –– but art history also gives us the cultural, political, and historical stories behind those works.

For centuries, women artists have struggled to receive recognition for their accomplishments and contributions. Despite activism toward social and professional equality, women remain underrepresented and undervalued in the art world.

As Murray Whyte of the Boston Globe points out, “the best strategy for career success for woman artists appears to be to live long enough to see it. Though waiting — and waiting, and waiting — has never been much of a guarantee.”

Whyte also includes some statistics: ninety-six percent of all art sold at auction is by men. While forty-six percent of American artists are women, only thirteen percent of American art museum holdings are by women.

In my hometown of Boston, MA, strides are being taken to draw attention to women artists from our history as well as those working in the contemporary art world. Like others who write about this subject, I’m struck that there still seems to be a need to differentiate “women artists”.

The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, is seeking to remedy gender discrimination found in museums, galleries, academics, and the art market. The MFA also acknowledges its lack of support toward consistently supporting women artists, and to this end, the museum has reallocated the entire third floor of the Art of the Americas Wing, now showing approximately 200 artworks made by women over the last 100 years. In what the museum is calling a “takeover”, this major exhibition aims to challenge the dominant history of art from 1920 to 2020.

Women Take the Floor is a year-and-a-half-long exhibition, running through May 3, 2021. It coincides with the 100th anniversary of the ratification of the 19th Amendment and is also part of the MFA’s 150th anniversary—a year-long celebration focused on enhancing the power of art and artists, honoring the past and reimagining the future.

“Our goals are to celebrate the strength and diversity of work by women artists while also shining a light on the ongoing struggle that many continue to face today. We see these efforts of recognition and empowerment to mark a first step to redress the systematic discrimination against women at the MFA, and within the art world,” says Nonie Gadsden, who led the cross-departmental team of curators in organizing Women Take the Floor.

Have you enjoyed this excerpt? See the Winter/Holiday issue of Venü Magazine for the entire piece including more on Mary Gabriel’s book, Ninth Street Women.

Featured Image: Chamonix, Joan Mitchell

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My son, the physicist, calls it “witchcraft” but I’ve been smudging for several years and have found the practice to be not only spiritually comforting but effective in eliminating negative energy and airborne pollutants my home. Now recent articles and studies are showing that there is science behind the positive effects of smudging.

Smudging is an ancient practice. Native Americans considered smudging a sacred act. Buddhists use it for purification. Along with some simple items and understanding the procedure, I believe that intention is one of the greatest tools you can use with smudging to clear your environment. As the smoke ascends during the practice, you send your good thoughts and wishes out into the universe. Be mindful, slow down, and enjoy the process.

While the science focuses mainly on how smudging eliminates pollutants and bacteria from the air, my main intention with smudging has always been to clear negative energy which can accumulate and stagnate. I tend to smudge more often in the autumn and winter when windows and doors are closed up, but smudging can be done whenever you feel the need.

So what happens when we smudge? Burning sage neutralizes positive ions. (The negative ions in our shower is what gives us that “feel good” vibe and has been said to be why we often feel like singing in the shower.) As the smudge stick releases negative ions into the atmosphere, we begin to feel less fatigued and stressed out. Brain fog clears. Sluggishness dissipates. Known as medicinal smoke, smudging is also a powerful antiseptic that can purify the air of 94% of harmful bacteria for up to 24 hours.

What you need to begin smudging

Herbs: There are a number of herbs you can experiment with. Sage and cedar are the most popular, but sweetgrass, lavender, juniper, and tobacco can also be used. The herbs represent the earth element. They often come bundled and tied together with cotton string. Sage is used to clear a space from stagnant energy and negativity, cedar is used to welcome positive energy into the cleared space. Often sage and cedar are combined in one bundle.
Abalone shell: This is to be used to either hold the smudge stick after use or to burn the plants. Carry the shell along with you to collect ash from the smudge stick. The shell represents the water element. A beautiful bowl of pure sand can also be used to safely extinguish your smudge stick after use.
Matches: I use wooden matches to light my sage stick. This seems more in line with my intention to use natural non-manufactured items in my practice rather than using a BIC lighter. The matches represent the fire element. A candle can also be incorporated into your practice as sometimes you may find the smudge stick goes out. Light the candle with matches and if needed relight the smudge stick using the candle flame.
Feather: Feathers are used to spread the smoke from the smudge stick through your home. Fanning the smoke helps move it into corners, closets, and nooks and crannies. The feather represents the air element.

The smudging process

Before we begin, it is recommended that we clean our home. Remember smudging is a practice, so time and planning are required. I mop the floors, change my sheets, wash my laundry, dust the bookshelves. I like everything to be as clean as possible and clutter-free so that the sage smoke moves around freely without unnecessary impediments.

Once you’ve completed your housecleaning, light the sage stick and begin moving around your home in a clockwise fashion. Some people prefer to move North to South, East to West, but I begin at what I consider the “top” of my home (the second or third floors) moving room to room in a clockwise manner making my way through the house right down to the basement.

Fan the smoke into corners, under the bed, into the tops of closets, and stairwells. Negativity loves to hide in dark corners. You can also use the burning smudge stick as a tool by making circles in the air (clockwise always) as you walk. Feel free to move your body through the smoke or let it encircle you to clear negativity and anxiety from your person.

Smudging intentions

During your practice fill your home with good intentions. Some say a mantra or prayer as they move. “Om mani padme hum” is a Buddhist mantra for transformation. Here is a Native American Prayer I picked up from the Chopra Center that you can also use. I think it to be quite lovely.

May your hands be cleansed, that they create beautiful things.
May your feet be cleansed, that they might take you where you most need to be.
May your heart be cleansed, that you might hear its messages clearly.
May your throat be cleansed, that you might speak rightly when words are needed.
May your eyes be cleansed, that you might see the signs and wonders of the world.
May this person and space be washed clean by the smoke of these fragrant plants.
And may that same smoke carry our prayers, spiraling, to the heavens.

When your practice is complete, extinguish the smudge stick in the bowl of sand, and then place it in the Abalone shell.

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It surprises me how dark the days of winter are in Boston. Daylight here falls somewhere between the golden glow of afternoon which I experienced in Connecticut and the dark nights of Sweden. Over the years, I’ve become very aware of the rhythm of nature and how I adjust to those rhythms depending on my place on the planet.

As I write, the third snowstorm of the season has just passed and Winter’s Solstice is upon us. I embrace the Northern winter — the beauty of a snowfall, crystals which form on my windows making delicate patterns in frost, and the opportunity to follow nature’s lead for a season of rest and regeneration.

Winter brings great calm, if we let it. Despite the call of hectic holidays and our attempts at finishing up business for the year, the icy season can be a time of quiet, solitude, and reflection. I have learned that if we take the time to slow down and nurture our souls and spirits in December, our first months of the new year will be far more insightful, rewarding, and productive.

Here are some Winter Solstice rituals which might help usher us through the coming months with greater ease.

• Honor the season by slowing down. Walks through the woods or a city park can nourish our souls and bring us into the calming rhythm of nature.
• Bring the outdoors in. Decorate your mantles and tabletops with evergreen boughs, mistletoe, pine cones, apples, and oranges.
• Light up the night with an outdoor bonfire.
• Light a candle. Or several. Reflect on the past year and your hopes for the future.
• Share a meal with family or friends. Or treat yourself with a meal of nourishing root vegetables.
• Be still and silent. Spend some time in a daydream.
• Meditate in the dark, and after the session light a candle to symbolize the rebirth of the sun in your own journey.
• Watch the sunset or sunrise.
• Purchase a Passion Planner and design your new year.
• Treat yourself to solitude. Journal, create art, read, listen to music.

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My most recent cover story for Venü Magazine, The Art and Heart of Rick Garcia, Winter issue, 2019-2020.

 An internet search of artist, Rick Garcia, will show only the lightest of online footprints revealing his website, a couple of YouTube videos, and his work at C. Parker Gallery in Greenwich Connecticut. Yet Garcia has created for some of today’s most highly visible organizations, corporations, events, and causes.

His work has garnered worldwide attention with images that are sometimes joyous and other times heart-rending. He is prolific. His palette is vibrant, often reflecting his love of the tropics, and with an economy of line he displays great skill in illustration. He has an approachable manner and an easygoing way of expressing himself. In other words, he’s pretty cool.

Rick Garcia has worked three times as the official artist for the GRAMMY Awards, setting the look and feel of the live ceremonies and gracing the covers of the organization’s program covers, CDs, posters, and apparel. In 1998 and 2003 he was commissioned by The United Nations Postal Administration to bring awareness to the dangers facing the rainforest and its inhabitants. The stamps he created earned his series the title of “most beautiful stamp series of 2003”.

Garcia was chosen as “Absolut Artist of the 90s” for the brand’s popular vodka ad campaign with Absolut Garcia, and a second submitted piece, Absolut Electric, went on again to draw worldwide attention. His work has included portraiture of Destiny’s Child, Ricky Martin, Coldplay, Santana, Celia Cruz, Black Eyed Peas, Imogen Heap, and Kanye West.

And still, very little will you find about him on the internet. Word of mouth is powerful.

His story begins back at the Art Institute of Miami where he studied drawing and painting. Soon Garcia was making a living from his illustrations. His work came to the attention of the creators of Miami Vice whereby he was commissioned to create a mural. His work was also used for interior scenes of the show. His artistic trajectory was set.

In the mid-nineties, Garcia was represented by the gallery/agent Arica Hilton, who suggested that he might look into creating images to direct attention to endangered animals. His love and affinity for animals and nature made the job a perfect fit.

One of this writer’s favorite pieces from the series is the vibrant yet heartbreaking, Almost Gone.

“This was at the time when I was working with regular brushes and airbrush and a level of surrealism was often used as a key component of my work,” explains Garcia. “The tiger is looking at the viewer and as the body of this animal nears the rear, less and less remains until the tail portion becomes birds flying off into the sky. The same tiger is seen above in a playful mood to symbolize an era of less intrusion by human beings.”

Have you enjoyed this excerpt? Read the article in its entirety at Venü Magazine.

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I write from a small room in Boston without a view. There are two west-facing windows which open to the mustard-colored clapboard siding of the neighboring three-story, and at this time, it is an advantageous vantage point. It keeps my attention focused on my writing and my mission.

Several weeks ago, I took to rearranging the furniture in this room to something I felt was more conducive to creativity. Pushing my desk into a corner I made a cozy place for concentration. A great chair, good lighting, and a variety of sacred items that I believe help my process. It’s a comfortable room also containing an old unused fireplace in the corner — it’s interior bricks painted white against a red wall. There are piles of books, journals, candles, and two sleepy cats. I see this arrangement as something I hope will prove beneficial in the full immersion of my craft because an enemy also lurks within these walls.

The War of Art, written by Steven Pressfield, discusses this enemy. It is known as Resistance. Pressfield refers to Resistance using a capital letter and assigns to it some powerful personality traits. It is what he considers the major deterrent of artists being able to do their work. It is a formable enemy — invisible, insidious, impersonal, and infallible. The battle with Resistance is fought on a daily basis.

It is Resistance that keeps writers from picking up their pens, artists from the canvas, potential entrepreneurs from starting a new business. Resistance uses our fears against us and slyly suggests other more mundane activities in lieu of sitting down to face our work — the work for which we are meant to do.

Resistance uses a host of weapons – negative self-talk, fear, imposter syndrome, any and all insecurities an artist may process, as well as physical maladies such as restlessness, anxiety, or lack of sleep.

It was partway through Pressfield’s book when I asked, “Just who, exactly, is in charge of Resistance?”

That was the start of a slight but profound change in how I now view my work and my world.

Eckhart Tolle writes and lectures about the Power of Now. It was from Tolle that I learned our minds are not to be always trusted. That our minds and our thoughts are not who we are and that our thoughts are only a tiny portion of what makes us us. This came as a shocking revelation to me, someone who considered her mind as the seat of her identity. The idea that I could just watch my thoughts drift by without having to act on them, or even acknowledging their worth, was astounding. The idea that I am more then what I think, more than my past mistakes, more than my business, more than my faults, was liberating.

According to Tolle, the majority of our thoughts are about either the future or the past. The past of which we can do nothing more about and the future which is not here yet. The most important thing we can do is center ourselves in the here and now. Right now. This moment. It is this moment in which we are truly alive.

I have been a practitioner of meditation for five years. I believed that I understood the meaning of mindfulness but perhaps it was all the practice that prepared me for the next step in my spiritual journey. Focusing on the Now felt lighter, more joyful, calmer, and without emotional pain.

The ruminations which so often haunted my thoughts were no longer of great importance. I found I could easily dismiss them and as I observed those thoughts I could watch them evaporate like gray mist. Forgiveness of those who harmed me in the past was effortless. My power of concentration increased tenfold because when I focus I am focused on Now. I am focused on the task at hand. Resistance hates this.

To not be able to stop thinking is a terrible affliction. As Tolle points out, identification with only our mind creates a barrier of labels, concepts, words, images, judgments, definitions, and comparisons that block us from knowing who we really are and what our purpose in life is. Obsessive thinking is a tremendous source of lost energy and indulging the egoic mind reinforces the idea that we are separate from life around us. It is the idea that we are separate that is the greatest cause of strife among nations, tribes, neighbors, and our true selves.

And so I write. I write because I love to tell stories, share ideas, impart information, and maybe, just maybe, inspire someone. I write because writing chose me, not I it. And I’ve come to learn that writing is my attempt to lend something meaningful to the world. Or even to just one person.

“The good writer seems to be writing about himself, but has his eye always on that thread of the universe which runs through himself and all things.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

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There is a place within you where you can find solace, comfort, and peace. It’s not using your mind to problem solve past issues, ruminations, or events. It’s a place of stillness where you can tap into the wisdom of your body and improve your health, stress levels, and connectedness to nature and the universe.

Starting February 3, Deepak Chopra and Oprah Winfrey are providing a free 21-Day Meditation Experience where you can learn to meditate and create a more balanced life. This is a global event, and I have to say, it sounds rather fabulous.

I’ve been a practitioner of meditation for about five years but I’m looking forward to this experience as I always believe there are things I can learn and implement into my practice.

In the 21-Day Meditation Experience, Oprah and Deepak guide you on a free online journey to enjoy the life-changing benefits of meditation in an easy and inspiring way. Each 21-Day Meditation Experience focuses on a unique theme, offering deep wisdom, practical tools, and refreshing insights to help you grow and evolve each day.

Inspired by the notion that it takes 21 days to create a habit, each 21-Day Meditation Experience offers:

Daily audio meditations
Motivational messages
Thought-provoking journal questions to anchor the day’s teachings
Articles, videos, and tips to help create a thriving meditation practice

Every day, you will receive an email providing daily meditations. The practice takes approximately 20 minutes each day.

There is also a list of meditation articles to get you started on your way or to provide additional information on the practice. Topics include Three Reasons to Meditate, Daily Practices for Peacemakers, Three Reasons You Feel Stuck, How Meditation Can Help Anxiety and many more.

21 Day Meditation Experience

You can read more about what to expect during the 21-day experience and The Origins of the 21-Day Meditation Experience which began in 2012.

Once you register you will be given access to a multitude of resources to make this experience as positive as possible. There is a beautifully designed free mobile app and a Facebook community where you can interact with others who are also on the journey. There are a number of resources on how to prepare for mediation, a video library, a glossary of terms, and of course an online shop where you can purchase items and books.

I wanted to share this experience with you because I can’t wait to start. And it’s always nice to have a friend participating alongside you.

You can register for the free 21-day meditation experience here.

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How do you fill your days? Watching TV and the news. Reading the papers. Scrolling social on your phones. Of course, we all go to work and then return home to complete projects that seem to have the greatest importance but bring us little joy.

We are world-weary. Most of us are buffeted by continuous torrents of tasks, responsibilities, and distressing news. But there are ways to find peace and pleasure in our daily lives despite there seeming to be so much at political stake. We need to set boundaries on how much bad news we ingest.

I gave up watching the news two years ago. Despite my proclivity toward being a news junkie, I knew there was very little I could do regarding current events. I then went a few steps further and shut down my newspaper subscriptions — even though I deeply wished to support journalism. I rarely click on news pieces in social and I shut down all notifications incoming from email, social, and app related activities. Our system is corrupt and we are being reminded of it every minute of every day.

When I returned to Boston, many people wrote to me saying “thank god you are home. We need your voice”. And yes, I considered adding my voice to the millions who were calling for activism. But I think I have something better to offer. Something more empowering to write about. Something that might make a difference in your life and how you live it.

So what did I do with all the new free time I had now that I wasn’t watching or participating in current events? Lots! And each one of those things made me a happier human being realizing that I didn’t have to slog my way through the days, weeks, and months of energy-draining headlines.

Here are a few suggestions about what can be done during those one or two hours we normally devote to watching or reading the morning or evening news: Watch the sunrise, take a morning walk, take an evening walk, do some gardening, read a great book, meditate, play with the dog, play with the cat, cook a wonderful meal (even if it’s just for yourself), learn a new language, take up a new hobby, paint, sculpt, write, photograph, call a friend, call a family member, get together for drinks, plan a vacation and study up on the place you wish to go, go back to school, consider and move toward your own goals, dream. In short, do something that provides you with contentment and personal fulfillment. Pick anything!

Trust me, if something big happens in the news you’ll know about it whether you watch TV or read the papers daily. And those nasty notifications? Get rid of them. You are in charge of your phone, not the other way around. Stop being a slave to your apps. Enjoy some quiet time. Embrace stillness and begin to listen to the stirrings of your heart. Your soul will thank you.

The post I stopped watching the news, here’s what I do instead appeared first on Lisa Mikulski - Writer.