If the day feels impossible and it’s hardly begun, take charge. Make a list! Invest a few minutes to identify and write down those “countless” demands. Look hard at them. Strike out any that are not 100% necessary. Consider what you could pass on to other people. Think creatively about how
Your physical health as well as your emotional wellbeing is dramatically affected by the quality of your relationships. As we approach Valentine’s Day 2012, it’s worth thinking hard about the people on whom we most depend, and that may be your partner. An intimate relationship can so easily be overloaded
1. Come into the present moment. When you panic, your thoughts break time barriers. You imagine, “This will go on forever.” Or, “Nothing will ever change.” Take as much time as is needed to move your awareness around your body, noting where you are in time and space at this
There’ve been lots of questions in the twitter and Facebook spheres in recent weeks about why writers write. My own shortest answer would be: to know more. For me, there’s no better way to understand humankind as well as ideas in greater depth – and to use the gifts of
What is the universal message for “all humankind” – regardless of religious labels? Surely the greatest challenge we face today is learning what the call to love asks of us, inwardly and outwardly. Learning what it might mean to love universally, regardless of “liking” or “agreeing with”. It’s the call
Dear Mr Abbott Barely a week ago, as most of us were preparing for this precious Christmas break, the media brought us news of the fate of yet more people seeking safety in Australia. This time the numbers of the dead were more startling. More disturbing. And it’s not just the
Invest in the writers you care about. Buy their books. Don’t borrow or boast of buying 2nd-hand. (Live authors need royalties.) Don’t assume that just because authors “love” writing, they can survive on inspiration alone. Step outside your comfort zone: read adventurously. Read and buy locally, especially if you live
This portrait of 20th-century European poet Rainer Maria Rilke is by his friend the Expressionist painter, Paula Modersohn-Becker, painted when both were adventurous idealists in their 20s. I have a particular fondness for it because it was when I working at The Women’s Press in London in the early 1980s that we published the first-ever
(This review first appeared in the Sydney Morning Herald, October 2011) What kind of people dare to dream of a better world than the one in which they find themselves? Ruth – one of this immensely fine novel’s two narrators – names empathic imagination and the actions that arise from
Time to celebrate the US publication of In the Company of Rilke! This is the first full-length study of Rainer Maria Rilke that explores and unfolds his writing primarily from a spiritual perspective. It’s a book I spent years preparing to write and writing and it is very dear to
Are you easy to like? Think for a moment about the people in your life who are genuinely self-confident (not bombastic or self-important!). Are they also the people who are easiest to like? If the answer is yes, here’s why. You know you can trust them. You enjoy their company.
In a series of five audio files, recorded at Mana Retreat Centre, NZ, October 2011, Dr Stephanie Dowrick teaches on the spiritual as well as psychological dimensions of what it means to be genuinely “well” – even when your physical health is compromised or uncertain. She also teaches on the vital
It gave me so much pleasure to prepare this talk and to consider the many ways in which the earth constantly “teaches” us – if only we will allow that. These lessons include awareness that whatever our differences, we are dependent on a single source; that the “seasons” of life
More than 100 years ago the pioneering psychologist William James wrote: “The greatest revolution in our generation is the discovery that human beings, by changing the inner attitudes of their minds, can change the outer aspects of their lives.” How true this is when it comes to suffering. “In life
This exquisite lotus, which I photographed on a recent holiday, only shows its ravishing beauty at night. It seems a particularly apt reminder that at the most difficult times we are in greatest need of loving kindness, thoughtfulness, harmony and beauty. It is also a stark reminder that our world needs,
In the short video Dr Stephanie Dowrick uses the familiar, yet wonderfully fresh “Mary and Martha” story from the Christian gospels to demonstrate the interdependence of reflection and action. It’s what she calls the “Yin and Yang” of spiritual life. Stephanie also points out that it is reflection that we
We are now in our sixth year of interfaith services in Sydney. Yet sometimes even “interfaith” seems too much of a label (although I did use it on the census form when asked to nominate my religion…!). Perhaps it’s enough to know that the spiritually inclusive services we offer each
A brief extract from Seeking the Sacred, now available as both printed book and audio, sent with the latest Universal Heart Newsletter. Whatever else the sacred is, it points to this: we are members of a single human family, marvelous and terrifying in its diversity. If we want to blink
In this recent short talk, Dr Stephanie Dowrick discusses some of the common obstacles to our personal peace of mind. These inevitably also “disturb” the peace way beyond ourselves. With a possibly surprising lightness and even optimism, she brings our attention to anger, greed and ignorance – all well known
All people are children when they sleep. there’s no war in them then. They open their hands and breathe in that quiet rhythm heaven has given them. They pucker their lips like small children and open their hands halfway, soldiers and statesmen, servants and masters. The stars stand guard and
