She Must Have Touched a Nerve
Jane Fonda’s FBI file From the 60s & 70s Is 22,000 pages long. “The way we treated the Vietnamese belied everything I thought about my country.” –Jane Fonda, on awakening to the truth about the…
Author: Mark J. Chmiel
Dear Layla, Dear Mark by Abbey Fox
Dear Mark, Per usual, I devoured your latest release. YOUR WRITING INSPIRES ME SO DEEPLY. It inspires me to take a moment and notice the tiny things that are the fabric of life and how…
Share the Wealth with Colin McLaughlin: ”The Clown as a Healer”
Humor is the shortest distance between any two people. And to heal each other, we need to utilize that accessibility—especially in the health professions. Clowning can dispel fear and anxiety in patients and the served,…
Finding Space
“Look, I know things are strained between the two of you I’m not gonna tell you to practice metta for him— Things are too tender for that— But I will tell you what his guru…
There Is No Way to Gentleness; Gentleness Is the Way
Bella Levenshteyn Was on her scooter At the red light In front of me Her bumper sticker read: “I brake for butterflies”
Keep It Simple
“I vow to bring joy to one person in the morning and to help relieve the suffering of one person in the afternoon.” –Thích Nhất Hạnh
Please Let Me Call You by Your True Names
Someone recently sent me the following note… “Mark” I rarely call you this But you feel like a Mark right now A mark upon my life A mark of brightness in a grey background A…
Word of the Day: Maitri
“Maitri is translated in a lot of ways, maybe most commonly as love, but the way Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche translated it was unconditional friendliness and in particular unconditional friendliness to oneself.” — Pema Chödron
The Power of Bollywood Shmaltz
At a red light at 14th and Tucker Listening to “Soni Soni” My eyes fill with tears Thinking of you
Audio with Hedy Epstein
The Torah Scroll Leaving Resolving Hatred Links are forthcoming!