This blog post was supposed to have gone out yesterday, on the 10th day of Elul. But it's OK, nobody is perfect, especially me. I am determined to make it count anyway! Making things count is a matter of choice - if we are playing mind games with ourselves late at night, we might tell … Continue reading #BlogElul 10: Count
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#BlogElul 9: Observe
"You see, but you do not observe." Such a famous quote from Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes stories. What does that mean for someone who is trying to grow themselves? In the original story, Holmes is chastising Watson for being unable to remember how many steps there are in a flight of stairs he … Continue reading #BlogElul 9: Observe
#BlogElul 8: Hear
I love listening to podcasts, and just recently I heard a great one by Jeffery Combs, on becoming a master listener. What is a master listener? According to Jeffery, it is someone who can hear what is meant rather than what is said, someone who is fully present when the other person is speaking. I … Continue reading #BlogElul 8: Hear
#BlogElul 5: Accept
Accept - now that is a hard one. We don't want to accept things. We want to be the masters of our fate, we want to have the illusion of control. The truth of the matter is, we have much less control than we think we do. We live in our little bubble, driving around … Continue reading #BlogElul 5: Accept
#BlogElul 4: Understand
Understanding is the Holy Grail for us personal development junkies. We might call it wisdom or enlightenment or whatever, but in the end, what we really want is to create a human pattern that makes sense to us. Understanding doesn't come out of nowhere - first we have to acquire some knowledge, or at least … Continue reading #BlogElul 4: Understand
#BlogElul 3: Search
The word "search" implies intentionality. A searcher is not merely wandering through life, marvelling at the serendipity of things. A searcher is on a mission, trying to find something specific. The searcher may not know what she is looking for, but she knows that something is missing in her life. Or she may know exactly … Continue reading #BlogElul 3: Search
#BlogElul 2: Act
Action is a very odd concept. We take action every day of our lives (at least, if we get out of bed), and yet it is something we often struggle with. Committing to a course of action can be both exhilarating and terrifying. Google "action" and "fear" together and you'll find countless pages teaching you … Continue reading #BlogElul 2: Act
#BlogElul 1: Prepare
It's here! It's here! Today is the first day of the Hebrew month of Elul, and once again, Rabbi Phyllis Sommer has generously provided us with a template for reflection and growth. The High Holy Days are just a month away, and there is lots of spiritual work to be done. This is my fourth … Continue reading #BlogElul 1: Prepare
Saying Goodbye to My Childhood Home
This is the house my parents built in Hofit, Israel, in 1970. I call it my childhood home because I spent more of my childhood there than in any of the other places we lived - Silver Spring, MD, New Providence, NJ, and Los Angeles, CA, are the main ones I can remember. I lived … Continue reading Saying Goodbye to My Childhood Home
Ode to a Bamboo
This winter I took an organisation course – a weekly webinar with the wonderful Susan Sly, in which she walked a group of us through various steps of getting our lives and businesses under control. Among other things, she told us to turn our desks away from the wall, and to put a few … Continue reading Ode to a Bamboo