spirituality

Invite Spirit to Join You

One of the most basic ways to grow the spiritual dimension of your life is to consciously invite Spirit into whatever you’re doing. It’s like there’s a friend who’s been… Read More

Is God Broccoli?

As a young adult I often stayed at the beautiful Marin Headlands hostel just north of San Francisco. I was there one weekend while a large group of missionaries was… Read More

The Main Ingredients in a High Level Quality of Life

When we read about historical figures or people in the news, it’s easy to get the message that it’s big things that make a life exceptional, that the individuals who… Read More

In working with the community that has developed around our Dreambook, Briana and I have encountered people looking for many different forms of life-optimization. While there’s plenty of guidance we… Read More

Get By With a Little Help From Your Friends

Last week I wrote about the many reasons we don’t ask for help, including what I think of the “Lone Ranger complex,” where we believe there’s great merit in doing… Read More

Fixing Our Relationship with the World and Ourselves

If you were birthed by Earth, then every pebble and plant is your sibling. Last week I wrote about animism, the belief that all things possess a spirit. Animistic cultures… Read More

Can We be Misguided by Spiritual Truths?

There’s a well-known spiritual quote from philosopher and teacher Jiddhu Krishnamurti. The story goes that he was speaking to a group of students (who saw him as an enlightened master),… Read More

Get Through Your Blocks By Seeing All Four Sides of the Coin

One of the main ways that we get stuck or fail to reach our potential is through persistent psychological patterns. Some would say they’re not just psychological, but psycho-spiritual, or… Read More

The Power of Mantras

Once I went to see a spiritual teacher who planned to write a mantra on my tongue using a leaf dipped in honey. But she ran out of leaves. Or… Read More

Focus on the Good

I believe we need about 364 more celebrations of Thanksgiving in a year, and not because we need more reasons to overeat and watch football. Giving thanks is good for… Read More

How to Be Happy Like a Dog

I have a cousin who’s a brilliant dog trainer. Years ago he used to train dogs to sniff out drugs and weapons, and he’s shared stories of some of his… Read More

Three Final Keys to Living Longer and Happier

Welcome to the final installment in my series on longevity. We’ve covered a lot over the past few months! Here’s a recap: (1) Love life and live for the present… Read More

Go Deep for the Holidays

I was jogging on the mesa behind our house and my thoughts went to the upcoming holidays and my cycles of introversion and extroversion. For me, social gatherings inevitably spur… Read More

13 Ways to Connect

Before we get swept up in all the material aspects of the holidays, I thought I’d write a bit about the opportunities for inner growth and awakening presented by the… Read More

Ditch the Dogma, Keep the Spirituality

As a teenager I spent a lot of time in the tunnels of Boston’s subway system. They were brightly tiled in red, blue, green, and orange, and there was a… Read More

The Dragontree