Year To Live Project: Scared In The Dark

Scared In Dark, Luke Skywalker asked Yoda, “What’s in there?” as he pointed to the cave he was about to enter. “Only what you take with you,” Yoda replied. I’ve played this scene over and over in my mind during the past few months as I have prepared to enter the darkness myself. If you’re […]

Year To Live Project: Farewell Team Boehm

Brene Brown has said, “The bravest among us are the most broken hearted. We risk heartache when we choose to love. The choice to love is the choice to be vulnerable. We simply cannot love without sharing ourselves fully, and that is the definition of vulnerability. We will have our hearts broken if we choose […]

Year To Live Project: The Thing About Capital Letters

April 21, 2016 – Upaya Zen Center – Santa Fe The question was posed to the large group of us seated for Wednesday night Dharma Talk in the meditation hall at Upaya Zen Center. Vice Abbot Joshin asked, “What is the difference between truth and Truth?” It sent the room of centered, contemplative people into […]

Year To Live Project: Radical Silence – Would You Like Some Tea?

April 9th 2016. Upaya Zen Center. Santa Fe Joshin is the head monk at the Upaya Zen Center, my home-away-from-home here in Santa Fe. We’re in a private, tatame mat-floored room in the back of the zendo sitting across from each other. I’m fortunate enough to have been granted some personal time with him. “There’s […]

Year To Live Project: The Search For Cowboy Twenty

“COWBOY TWENTY?” I ask Emelio at a volume that’s uncomfortable for us both. He mumbles something inaudible in return – something I swear to Christmas sounds an awful lot like “cowboy twenty.” So, I ask again. “DID YOU SAY COWBOY TWENTY?” I earn a head shake and finger wag in response. I can tell he’s […]