“Maintain buoyancy” was a favorite expression of my friend Sharon’s father.

I’ve had several ecstatic, transformational, almost out-of-body experiences. They are rather hard to describe, and I don’t know what they are (if you do, please fill me in!).  But each has been intensely beautiful and powerful, and in each case I’ve felt like I was on a different plane of existence.

Last winter I attended a screening of Being Mortal with a panel discussion at American University. It was a strangely beautiful evening.

In 1999, I attended a week-long residential training with the National SEED Project. SEED, an acronym for Seeking Educational Equity and Diversity, was founded by Dr. Peggy McIntosh at the Wellesley College Center for Women to train teachers to be leaders in social understanding and change.

Do we speak enough about kindness? Do we value it sufficiently in all that it adds to our lives?

Metta meditation, or lovingkindness, is one of the 4 compassion practices known as the Brahma Viharas or Divine Abodes. Sometimes referred to as the two wings of the practice, mindfulness meditation cultivates our ability to clearly see what is, while metta meditation cultivates our capacity to be with what is — and to open our hearts.