Gifts That Sustain, And Gifts That Deplete

By Thursday, December 25, 2014 0 0

Are the gifts we're giving sustaining us, or depleting us? Merry Christmas! -- if you celebrate Christmas. Whether or not you do, keep reading, because this post is for you. We humans have craved winter holidays (like Christmas) ever since we figured out how to make fire. They're about surviving the long darkness. What sustains us in the cold, ...

Secret For A Happy Thanksgiving

By Thursday, November 27, 2014 0 0

Happy Thanksgiving! At their best, holidays bathe us in connectedness, making us rich in what matters. Or, during the holidays we can bolt from being present in a hundred ways. And we don't even know we're doing it. Bolting is about fleeing discomfort. Bolting makes us less connected. It makes us poorer in what matters. In many cases it involves eating, drinking or spending too ...

Happy Fourth! Getting Past Independence-Worship

By Sunday, June 29, 2014 8 0

Happy Fourth of July! Those of us in the U.S. have a three-day weekend coming up -- how shall we celebrate our nation's birthday? Ideas below, but first a couple of thoughts on independence. Why not celebrate the interdependence of all nations on the Fourth? Given that the U.S. is now 238 years old, I think we are ...

Best Low-Cost And No-Cost Christmas Gifts

By Wednesday, December 18, 2013 8 0

Giving and receiving gifts can be juicy and joyful, and make us lots richer in what matters. I think the best gift-giving keeps us living within our means and grounded in our values. Climate change is driven by overconsumption, and research indicates that more stuff doesn't even increase our happiness. But more and better relationships do. A cool ...

The Art Of Subtraction In The Holiday Season

By Sunday, December 1, 2013 8 0

An evergreen wreath on our door is my home's only holiday decoration. Our Christmas focus is on people, especially our annual open house . Mainstream culture tells us that more is better. During the holiday season, our culture screams this at us. But unless we are poor, it's a lie that more is better. It's actually a violent lie. More ...

How To Break The Rules At Christmas

By Sunday, December 2, 2012 14 0

The holidays are full of traditions and rules, some spoken and some unspoken. But change, which we might call rule-breaking, is always an option. While we don't all celebrate Christmas, most people in the world celebrate some kind of winter holiday (the word holiday was originally holy day). I celebrate Christmas because I'm a liberal Christian, but (more…)