Category: Self-Knowledge

No Mud, No Lotus

A few years ago, the Viet­namese Bud­dhist teacher, Thich Nhat Hanh, pub­lished a slim vol­ume called, No Mud, No Lotus. The premise is straight­for­ward: the “mud” of suf­fer­ing is essen­tial to hap­pi­ness. The two are inex­tri­ca­bly linked. To find hap­pi­ness, first embrace your pain, look deeply into it, and learn to “suf­fer well.”  Last week, after… Con­tin­ue read­ing No Mud, No Lotus

If It’s Not a Clear Yes, It’s a No

If it’s not a clear yes, it’s a no. The phrase tests our clar­i­ty and com­mit­ment. It does­n’t apply in every sit­u­a­tion that might be answered, “maybe, maybe not.” Not every­thing can be or should be clear cut. But the phrase may have dis­tinc­tive val­ue when it is a way of ask­ing our­selves about sit­u­a­tions… Con­tin­ue read­ing If It’s Not a Clear Yes, It’s a No

On Workplace Depersonalization

I have been think­ing a lot late­ly about work­place deper­son­al­iza­tion. Let me give you a cou­ple of exam­ples. True sto­ries. I go for a doc­tor’s appoint­ment and am sit­ting in the wait­ing area while oth­ers check in. One of the recep­tion­ists says to an old­er, incom­ing patient: “Oh, hel­lo! It’s so nice to see you!… Con­tin­ue read­ing On Work­place Depersonalization