When Silence is Playful

I recently went on a silent retreat for seven days. The kind where you don’t talk at all and do little other than meditate, alternating between 45-minute sessions of sitting on a cushion and walking mindfully back and forth as if you’re Ricky Ricardo pacing in the...

Nature + Nurture: Travels in Chile

Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished. –Lao Tzu   Getting to Chile—a narrow strip of land that sits between the Andes mountains to the East and the Pacific ocean to the West—is not quick, direct or easy. But even after three flights and a...

Our Civil Rights Journey to the Deep South

Last year in my son’s eighth grade social studies class, they discussed the civil rights era but according to him, they were short on time and (as he explained) “kind of rushed through it.” So when the movie Selma came out last December, depicting the events that led...

Mindful in Morocco

It’s hard not to be mindful of your surroundings in Morocco—the North African country that seems to emanate a wondrous overload of the senses. The sights, smells, tastes and sounds can be overpowering and beautiful, startling and thought-provoking. In a...

Escapades in Aspen

When my daughter, Emily, announced she had one week off of work this summer when all kid activities are cancelled due to an annual sailing race, my mind immediately started working. “What will you do?” I asked casually. “Annabel and I are thinking of going away...

Savoring the Tastes of Puglia

For much of the past 25 years, when I heard someone mention Puglia, I could only think back to the music-filled and pasta heavy restaurant in Manhattan’s Little Italy, where I once threw my husband a memorable and ruckus birthday party before we were married. All that...