Weekends for Better Health – Musings in Missoula
You might know that the idea of the weekend, a couple days every week when we are free to relax, clean, travel, read books, do lawn work, and so on, evolved from the idea of the sabbath. The sabbath comes from the Jewish, Christian, and Muslim Book of Genesis. There, the sabbath is described as the seventh day of creation on which God rested. For Jews, the rest day is
The Dao of Parenting: Impulse Control – Musings in Missoula
Today I want to share with you another adventure in what I call “the Dao of parenting.” As I’ve stated before, I’m a first-time parent raising a toddler (now almost 3 years old). So I’m no expert on raising kids. I am, however, an expert on Buddhist moral practice, and that is relatively close to Daoism. And while I think Buddhism has abundant wisdom for living our lives, I’ve found
Ancient Roman Solutions to Modern Unhappiness – Musings in Missoula
“All men … wish to live happily,” wrote the Roman philosopher Lucius Annaeus Seneca in the year 58 A.D when he was 62 years of age. However, he noted, men are “dull at perceiving exactly what it is that makes life happy.” When it comes to many of our issues around psychology, the ancients had some staggering wisdom that we can still use today. Seneca was an expert on eudaimonia,
Contemplating Longevity in Love – Musings in Missoula
This month my parents celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary. Such a number and event is staggering in many ways. One measure of marital statistics says that just 5 percent of marriages in America will last that long. Half will end in divorce. Liberty Kovacs, Ph.D., a marital therapist working with couples of all ages, discovered the perhaps obvious truth that relationships unfold over time. The relationship after 5 years might
Further Adventures of the Daoist Dad – Musings in Missoula
I have written before about my trials and travails in fatherhood here in Missoula. As all parents know, it’s a “learn as you go” kind of thing. If we’re lucky, we have good role models. Luck, too, will mean we have time to read books and talk with friends and seek out support along the way. A third stroke of luck is having a happy, healthy kiddo. I count myself
Fieldnotes on Grief – Musings in Missoula
Grief is one of the most complex, powerful, and poorly understood emotions felt by humans. It comes in many ways, but the loss of a close family member is usually seen as the most painful path into grief. Grief can also strike when we are forced from our home or community, lose a job, or a friendship or romantic partnership. In 1969, Elizabeth Kubler-Ross published On Death and Dying, which