Resilience strategy: Stop. Look. Listen.
Trains have always fascinated me. As a counselor, I often refer to the “STOP, LOOK and LISTEN” sign found at railroad crossings as an anxiety reduction technique to help my patients get back on...
View ArticleFor inner peace, learn to acknowledge projections
His Holiness The Dalai Lama has said on occasion that we will not have peace in the world until we have inner peace. Many spiritual paths help us become aware of the duality of the split mind...
View ArticleInner Peace: Memoirs and mindfulness have the power to heal
A recent poll found that the number-one retirement aspiration of baby boomers is to write a memoir.Amazing?! Not really. For years I suffered from a debilitating self doubt. I hid it reasonably well in...
View ArticleThe holy wildness of inner peace
My conscious quest for inner peace began when I was 18 years old after a transcendent experience in which I spontaneously experienced a peace beyond my life circumstances. I spent the next 15 years on...
View ArticleNew Thought embraces creative spirit
There are many authors-teachers who have recently gained popularity in the western culture. People like Wayne Dyer, Deepak Chopra, Marianne Williamson, Eckhart Tolle and even Joel Osteen are professing...
View ArticleInner Peace: Trump made my stabilizer conk out
The presence of Donald Trump on the national scene has created such havoc among my friends (and I confess, in me, too) that I went out and invested in beefing up my stabilizer.The stabilizer is a piece...
View ArticleBaby steps to forgiveness
There are people who want to forgive and can’t. Others lack the desire to forgive the object of their grievance. Within the deep and long-held grievance is overwhelming emotional pain that has...
View ArticlePeace is never piecemeal
Chronology: At the age of 8 years old, growing up in India, I enjoyed school as much as playing different village sports, which was rough and at times tough and challenging. There was no expectation of...
View ArticleHappy Holi, Easter, Passover and Ramadan
Dear Inner Peace followers:In March the Hindus celebrated the Holi Hindu Festival, Passover is from April 11 to 18; Easter is April 16 and Ramadan will fall on May 27.All four arrive during the spring...
View ArticleInner Peace: Daily worm rescue for health
Being an old guy, I take a brisk two-mile walk every day to maintain my health. Along the way I see dozens of squashed earthworm corpses on the road, so I rescue them from the pavement after the rain....
View ArticleInner Peace: Easier ways to navigate life's headwinds
“May the road rise up to meet you,May the wind always be at your back …”I ponder this Irish blessing when I’m on a challenging bicycle ride into headwinds. This helps me to have the strength to succeed...
View ArticleCouncil Corner: The election is over. Now what?
Election season is over, thank goodness, and the business of governance is kicking into high gear at all levels. Elected officials everywhere are now asking the question, "Now what?"The "Now what?"...
View ArticleCouncil Corner: Ashland’s economy of the future
When it comes to our local economy, Ashland has had a very interesting history, to say the least.We have transformed from a Southern Oregon mill town to an area of the country that is renowned for our...
View ArticleCouncil Corner: Local action on issues is essential
The recent Martin Luther King Jr. Day celebration has given me hope and determination concerning the importance of local action to address the issues we will be facing in 2017.The last election...
View ArticleCouncil Corner: Happy returns; embrace our differences
It is Saturday morning as I write my first Council Corner. A fresh cup of coffee and a fresh, brand-new day. I love mornings, often getting up at 4 a.m. to prepare for the day.I am happy and grateful...
View ArticleCouncil Corner: Excerpt from the State of the City 2017
Here is a sequence of six propositions, each of which builds on the ones before it, that concerns the curious relationship between survival and opportunity in these tumultuous times:1. This...
View ArticleCouncil Corner: Ashland’s climate action plan
For many in Ashland and further afield, this has been a frightening start to 2017, with the change in priorities of the current administration and the effect this change may have on the elimination of...
View ArticleCouncil Corner: Welcome to Ashland — it's complicated
I've said before that I sometimes think on our “Welcome to Ashland” signs, our town slogan underneath should read “It’s Complicated.” That seems to embody what it is like to deal with the myriad issues...
View ArticleCouncil Corner: Reasons to be optimistic
There is a lot of angst and frustration with government right now in our country and our communities. Times are challenging, resources constrained and expectations often out of sync with limited...
View ArticleCouncil Corner: Getting acquainted with Traci Darrow
Since this is my first Council Corner after being appointed to the City Council on Feb. 21, I thought I should let readers know more about me.Who is this person? Where did she come from?I was born and...
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