misc-joy

Tag: mindfulness

  • Living in a Monastery

    Living in a Monastery

    It was 2020 and I was living alone in a studio apartment and working remotely. The covid pandemic had fully settled in to our society and I was feeling lonely, upset and not well. I had spent the prior year trying to get better from my clinical depression and in February 2020 I had left…

  • Ten Books to Read

    Here you will find a selection of the books I’ve read this year. The first five titles are non-fiction followed by five fiction titles. The fiction titles are predominately science fiction or fantasy but are easy crossovers for those who don’t typically read genre fiction.  Our History is the Future by Nick Estes  The author of…

  • Buddhism in Everyday Life

    This is part two of a talk I gave at the Vista Buddhist Temple on November 9, 2019. You can listen to part one here. In the second part, I explore what mindfulness means, how to practice mindfulness, how to maintain mindfulness, and the Five Mindfulness Trainings.

  • Thanksgiving

    Thanks for rain and snow, a lovely and supportive partner, beautiful and kind children, food to eat, good health, books, good friends, a solid job, meditation and an ethical mindfulness practice, compassion and empathy, freedom, quiet, sobriety, Thich Nhat Hanh, the Buddha, a safe home, awareness of suffering, shoes, music, good doctors, trees, shared transportation.…

  • Diversity and Equity in a Community College

    What does it mean to address equity and diversity in a community college setting? More specifically, as an academic administrator at Santa Barbara City College? I recently had the opportunity to reflect upon this very question and the topic feels important enough to share more broadly. Why is diversity and equity important? Addressing diversity and…

  • Being Present for Our Students

    Being present for our students is a true gift we can offer and these experiences with students are one of the reasons why I’ve loved teaching and being part of an academic environment my entire professional career. As teachers, we have the capacity to change lives in ways that we may not always be fully…

  • Happy Teachers Change the World

    This is an important text for teachers who wish to cultivate mindfulness in the classroom. It is a uniquely Plum Village approach and provides concrete examples from hundreds of teachers from around the world. I am honored to have had a very small part in the manifestation of this book through offering feedback along the…