Thoughts From Annie

I hope that you had a very relaxing summer! I had the pure joy of visiting the Caribbean, seeing family, and going on retreat with Thich Nhat Hanh. In my last e-news, I wrote about whether or not it’s best to always share our suffering, or if it’s more productive to share only our joys. So it’s funny because this month I have been meditating on perceptions. And perhaps underneath the question about what to share with others is how we interpret our experiences…

This past week I received an unexpected letter from an old friend of my mom’s. My mom passed away, quite unexpectedly, about 5 years ago at the young age of 71. My mom, Sally, was a vibrant, energetic, and positive person, who did a whole lot for a lot of people, and was well-loved by many. My mom’s friend described some of my mom’s wonderful qualities – always making the best of every situation, her enormous capacity to care for others, the importance of her family…

In June, I had the rare and humbling opportunity to speak on a panel with three very distinguished Buddhists and peace activists: Colman McCarthy, Hugh Byrne, and Bill Aiken. The panel was part of the first annual BuddhaFest, and there were over 100 people in attendance. I agreed to speak on the panel because a friend of mine recommended me, I was in a good mood when they asked, and I wanted to encourage myself to move out of my comfort zone…

So I have been in a birthday mode lately. In addition to eating good food and cake, there is a tradition of offering good wishes to the birthday celebrant. We say things like: I wish you a happy birthday, I wish you another year of health, or I wish you a relaxing day. And I was thinking about how birthday wishes are a lot like metta, or loving-kindness phrases. Some of the phrases we use for practicing metta are: May you be happy, May you be healthy, and May you live with ease…

I am very fortunate to have two small vegetable gardens in my front yard. About a month ago, we planted some new lettuce and peas, and were very excited to discover that many of the heartier plants had wintered over and were starting to provide us with chard, mustard greens, spinach and even some very small broccoli. Yum. I pick the leaves regularly, but had been away from home for a few days…

This morning when our contractor arrived at our house, it made me cry. And it wasn’t simply the cost of renovation making me sad. It was my son’s move from his old room to a new one that did it. You wouldn’t think such a small thing would be so triggering. Standing in my son’s room at 7 am this morning, I looked around at all of the stuff that he was letting go–the cowboy rug and cowboy boots, the Goosebumps books…

This morning I saw white crocuses coming up in my neighbor’s yard. For me, crocuses are the harbinger of spring, regardless of whether the groundhog saw his shadow or not. When I see their tiny delicate flowers hanging on even more delicate stems, I have faith that the warm weather is on its way, even as I step through mounds of dirty snow.

I was lying in my living room the other afternoon, enjoying a fire and the coziness of a warm house in the winter, with the sun shining into the windows. Because of the holidays, we had moved our sofa into a new location, and I had an unusual new perspective of the living room at this hour of the day.

Dear Friends, Happy New Year! I hope that all of you had a very happy holiday season. At the Mahon household, we have been having a wonderful few weeks filled with teenagers returning from Peru, New York, and Florida, and departing for France, extended family visits in person and by phone, presents, and a few…

Dear Friends, December is here, and with the holidays upon us, we have opportunities to connect with old friends, close family, extended family, and new acquaintances. To kiss or not to kiss, to hug or not to hug? Sometimes it can be a little awkward. I don’t come from a family of huggers. Most of…