Living an Inspired Life

The poet, Mary Oliver's instruction to "pay attention, this is our endless and proper work," has always inspired my mindfulness practice.

In the small moments that feed our soul, staying open, alert and attentive to the gifts of the present remind us why we are here - to live, to love, to learn.

Aging Fearlessly

We are living in an aging world, with 40.3 million Americans 65 years or older, expected to increase to 89 million by 2050. Population aging is changing societies on a global level, causing a wave of change fueled by this Silver Generation. 

As more seniors lead active lives, our philosophy of aging gracefully has shifted. 

Today is all we have.

The poet, Rainer Maria Rilke, speaks of death as a "letting go of the ground we 

stand on and cling to everyday," how we are like swans, "clumsy lumbering beings" 

moving awkwardly until we enter the water, where we are transformed into the 

graceful creatures we were intended to be. 

Beginnings and endings, birth and death, origination and destination - between 

them our brief biography. Death is inevitable for all of us, the only variable is when.

This certainty should keep us focused on addressing our life in finite terms.

The Lost Art of Wandering

Not all those who wander are lost. ~ J. R. R. Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring

Travel has always been for me an inner journey of awakening, a new way of seeing, a nurturing of the poetic instinct.

View of the Arc de Triomphe, Paris, 1946
Ed Clark—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images

In Arabic literature of past ages, travel was considered one of the four great subjects worthy of the poet: love, song and blood, being the other three. These four contain the basic desires of the human heart, worthy of being elevated to a necessity for any human being who is truly alive. 

Gilda Radner: Delicious Ambiguity

For generations of Saturday Night Live fans, Gilda Radner was an icon. She inspired Steve Martin, Lily Tomlin, Rosie O'Donnell, Tina Fey and many other stars. Her elastic face and vulnerability were endearing qualities that were unforgettable as she battled ovarian cancer in her fiercely funny way. 

Bringing her memory to life for 1200 people in New Jersey, Alan Zweibel, who helped create some of her most memorable Saturday Night Live characters,  recounted a story of her final appearance on the Gary Shandling Show. After an absence of almost seven years from television, her host opened with a question on her absence from the entertainment world, and she responds, "I had cancer, what's your excuse?" bringing the audience in the studio to cheer her through their tears. Alan recalls how footage of that segment still shows a wobbly movement as the camera comes in for her close-up. It was caused by the cameraman's unsteady hands as he struggled to contain his tears.