Ruining A Good Thing, Part 2: Can Our Story Be Changed, And Religion Serve Our Spirituality?

Ritual does not equal religion, but it is like the hint of color in the leaf presaging fall. All that is required is the loss of safety, the contraction into fear, and the organization that follows. At some point in my pretty story, the people lost spiritual touch with the land, and ignored the signs… Continue Reading Ruining A Good Thing, Part 2: Can Our Story Be Changed, And Religion Serve Our Spirituality?

Ruining a Good Thing: One Story of How Spirituality Becomes Religion

Ruins. All that remains of a culture that lasted continuously for over 700 years at Mesa Verde. Like a skeleton, its bones and articulations telling a rich story, from a nomadic people tired of wandering, to a frightened and fighting society starved into leaving for kinder territory in Arizona and New Mexico. When I was… Continue Reading Ruining a Good Thing: One Story of How Spirituality Becomes Religion

Are Religion and Spirituality Really at Odds?

Religion. Just the word itself brings a palpable, observable quake to most thinking persons’ systems. Even those who acknowledge the numinous quickly clarify, “I’m not religious, I’m spiritual.” Who can blame them? We live in an extraordinary country, one founded on religious freedom; yet historically, religion in this country has been used to control, to… Continue Reading Are Religion and Spirituality Really at Odds?

Religion and Healing: a True Paradox

Religion. Just the word itself brings a palpable, observable quake to most thinking persons’ systems. Even those who acknowledge the numinous quickly clarify, “I’m not religious, I’m spiritual.” Who can blame them? We live in an extraordinary country, one founded on religious freedom; yet historically, religion in this country has been used to control, to… Continue Reading Religion and Healing: a True Paradox

Can Money Be Addictive, and If So, Is That a Bad Thing?

Can money be addictive, and if so, is that really a bad thing? One might say that, like people who compulsively exercise, addiction to money has significant practical benefits. Keeping one’s focus on the bottom line and delaying gratification in order to create a more secure future is terrific…in balance. But are we always talking… Continue Reading Can Money Be Addictive, and If So, Is That a Bad Thing?

Elliot Rodger: A Cautionary Tale

While everyone is talking about gun control, can we take it to a deeper level? Our boys, and the men they become, are in trouble. While Rodgers, and Holmes etc before him, are extremes, our males are at risk, from puberty on, in continued discouragement around developing more “feminine” qualities that allow for satisfying intimacy, relationally and not merely sexually. And those who do are likely to be the main object of interest for the school bully. Continue Reading Elliot Rodger: A Cautionary Tale

Money Stress: How Growing Up Without Effects Our Relationship With Money Now

That trauma shows up in my office, among those who rationally know they have plenty, but are constantly driven by a sense of never having enough. By those who are miserable in their jobs but terrified at even manageable risk factors in pursuing, instead, work more satisfying to them and more helpful to the world. By those compulsively resist opening their ledgers, looking up their account balance, or in any way checking their goals against the realities of their current finances. When you’re raising a family, or closing in on retirement, that becomes a huge problem. Continue Reading Money Stress: How Growing Up Without Effects Our Relationship With Money Now

There is no Magic in Money (Pt. 2): Using “the Ladder” to Make Money Work for You

What has this to do with you and your bank account? Plenty. Remember that exercise I had you do a couple of blogs ago? The one where you sat with actual currency, and noticed what thoughts and feelings came up. One of those beliefs may have been, if only I had more of this I… Continue Reading There is no Magic in Money (Pt. 2): Using “the Ladder” to Make Money Work for You

Learning — and unlearning — money lessons from childhood

Courtesy of Amy Berk, Financial Adviser, Ameriprise If you suddenly received a windfall, would you take a trip around the world? Buy a luxury car? Save it for retirement? Surprise! Your answer may be greatly influenced by your parents and grandparents. Experts say how we handle money and what it means to us has a lot… Continue Reading Learning — and unlearning — money lessons from childhood