On mindfulness

Have you ever had the experience where you’re driving home from work and suddenly you’re turning down your street and you don’t even remember getting there? Your mind was so far away that you paid no attention to what you were doing — you were completely on automatic pilot? That’s the opposite of mindful living.…

On focusing

When I began writing for a living, I worked crazy hours trying to make ends meet. It seemed like I was working 90 hours a week and I was always broke. Then I realized that I was not applying the principles of bushido to my work, that I had let my fear of not being…

Why you do your work

When I first began training in the martial arts, I trained for lots of reasons. Because I wanted to lose weight and get into shape. Because I wanted to be able to fend off a mugger on the college campus where I was a graduate student. Because I wanted to earn my yellow belt and…

How we name things

I know a lot of people who are writers and reporters, and recently I’ve been hearing them say things like, “It’s easy churning out copy for this client” or “I can churn this project out in a day, how much should I charge?” I’m sure I’ve used that phrase myself, especially as regards work that…

Birth and rebirth

A friend of mine who is forty-something recently had a baby. This is the third child she has welcomed into her life; the other two are school-aged. I met her for coffee recently, and had the chance to hug her sweet new baby and marvel at how calm and relaxed the new mama was. My…