Thoughts From Annie

This archived edition of Thoughts from Annie was originally posted in July 2015. Hermit Mind Dear Friends, Yesterday I got an email from my husband with the subject, “Crazy Story!” Intrigued, I followed the link to a long article entitled, “The Strange and Curious Tale of the Last True Hermit.” It told the story of…

Dear Friends, A few days ago, I was talking to my young adult son and heard myself telling him the age-old advice that he needed a reason to get out of bed every morning. You may have run into these words of wisdom in your own life, from your parents or friends, or read it…

TAKING THE ELEVATOR OR IT’S OK TO BE NUMBER TWO Dear Friends, My therapist is on the third floor of a building with four floors and an elevator. Since I started seeing her about a year ago, I have always taken the stairs to her office. A few weeks ago, I was diagnosed with a…

Dear Friends, I woke up one day last week feeling sick. I got up anyway, enjoyed my morning routine of tea with my husband, and walked the dogs. But as the morning advanced, I found myself back in my bed. I was scheduled to teach that evening, and in order to do that I would need to bury my headache and body aches…

We celebrated Circle Yoga’s 14th anniversary earlier this month! This archived Thoughts from Annie post is from May 2007, when the studio was just four years old.  Dear Friends, I am writing this letter to you on an airplane returning home after a long weekend spent with two of my dearest friends. We met in the…

Dear Friends, Have you ever had a day that went exactly as you wanted it to go? Everything that could go well, did, everyone was kind and polite to you, and nothing out of the ordinary happened? Well, if you are like most of us, you may have had a day like that, once. Or…

Dear Friends, Last week, while scooping my terrier’s poop in the park, I saw another pile of poo, just next to his, and I thought, “Might as well grab this, too.”  I added the unknown dog’s poop to our little green baggie, but I noticed I felt a little squeamish. As the mother of four,…

Dear Friends, I remember one of the first times I heard Thich Nhat Hanh speak. He shared thoughts about his work and life during the Vietnam War. Thich Nhat Hanh, or Thay (a title of respect, which means teacher,) often spoke about how difficult that time was for him, particularly because he refused to line up with one side…

Dear Friends, For some reason, I get a lot of orchids as gifts. I find orchid blooms to be delicately beautiful and they remind me of Plum Village, where the altars are always filled with blooming orchids. Unfortunately, once my orchid plants finish blooming, they go dormant, and I have yet to make any of them bloom a second time. I spoke…

Dear Friends, I used to feel like I didn’t fit in. As a baby, I had a lazy eye, and was wearing eye patches and glasses by the time I was two years old. I was bused several miles to elementary school, so I was one of the few left behind when everyone else walked…