“I succumbed,” she said. “I stopped denying the wounds and felt them, felt their width and breadth. Pain can be clarifying. If you are able to feel it...the pain itself will tell you what to do.”

I looked out of the window, feeling disappointed and empty. This was not the answer I had come for. I wanted something else, some other formula or techniqu

... See more

What does it mean to be a hero in the liminal? Perhaps not what it means to be a hero in the regular world. It may be that there is an inversion at play — that to survive the underworld, we need to embody the opposing qualities of our old culture. Humility over control. Surrender and acceptance over striving and efforting. This does not mean becomi

... See more

So many of the wise teachers among us apprehend truths of life from an edge of illness or crisis, where the view is suddenly so stark and so clear. They come back wounded and more whole than before, all at the same time—not cured, but healing, and embodying mystical ideas that seemed strange as abstractions and turn out to be common sense. The core

... See more