We readily offer help to those we love, yet often resist it ourselves. How can we accept assistance without feeling that we have surrendered our independence or dignity?
On February 22, 1970, Bamboo Harvester, known professionally as Mister Ed, died after a distinguished career in television and interspecies communication. He was 21. For six seasons, Mister Ed demonstrated an ability that had eluded every horse before him and every horse since. He could talk.
Every night, we do something rather extraordinary. We lie down, close our eyes and surrender consciousness. For the next several hours, we stop keeping watch. We stop making decisions. The unfinished business of the day remains unfinished. Whatever we have been worrying about will have to wait.
There are mornings when eight hours of sleep doesn't seem to have done the job. The body has been in bed all night, but the mind apparently worked the late shift—sorting through yesterday, rehearsing tomorrow, returning to conversations that ended years ago. Sleep and rest, it
Mary Oliver liked to walk the same path every day. She lived for decades in Provincetown, Massachusetts, where woods, dunes, marshes and beaches gave her plenty of places to walk. Yet Oliver often chose the same path. “My own nature is to like to walk the same
Before going to sleep, take another look at the day you just lived. Across spiritual traditions, practices of self-examination ask us to notice our actions, intentions and relationships—and what we might do differently tomorrow.
Los Angeles. A missing girl. A private detective in a dark suit behind the wheel of a vintage Corvette. His name is John Sugar. He knows how to follow someone without being seen, how to spot a lie and what's next when a conversation becomes a
September has a sound. There are fewer cicadas at night. Some birds leave while others pass through on their way south. Leaves begin to dry, changing the sound of wind in the trees. Soon we'll hear them underfoot. Scientists listen to these changes, too. Soundscape ecology uses
You see her across the room. You know her. You remember where you met. You remember that her husband is named Bob, that they went to Italy last year and that their daughter recently graduated from law school. You remember enough about her to carry
The first signs of fall usually arrive before the school buses do. Back-to-school commercials on every channel and stream. Halloween candy in the drugstore and pumpkin beers on the menu at your favorite restaurant. Then comes the first cooler day. It may still be summer,