Another World Is Probable

I consistently wish my life was easier. I fantasize about getting everything I want immediately without any effort. It sounds like heaven. But maybe it’s the obstacles that make life satisfying. A part of me can’t believe I just wrote that because again, I’d take a little more instant gratification and a little less hard work, thanks. However, that’s not flesh and blood life. More in this week's post. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/another-world-is-probable/support

On Wednesday, I had three personal calls, a work call, went grocery shopping, had my hair cut, walked three miles getting to and fro, wrote an article, washed all my dishes, and made dinner from scratch. By the end of the day, I was completely zonked and chose to bail on my evening Zoom plans. Why? Because I’m a spoonie. I like to pretend I’m not a spoonie, but I’m a spoonie. More in this week's post. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/another-world-is-probable/support

Anger has been on my mind lately. As a deeply spiritual person, am I doing something “wrong” by feeling angry? With so many messages in the world about how anger is unnatural, destructive, something to avoid, etc. am I harming myself in the long run by feeling this way? More in this week's post.  --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/another-world-is-probable/support

Over and over again I remind myself I’m an instrument for the Divine Beloved. I’m here to be of service and that means pushing aside my idea of how things should go. It means loosening self-will over and over again and instead being open to something else. More in this week's post. (And why I chose a dove as the image will become clear.) --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/another-world-is-probable/support

Right now, Jews all over the world (myself included) are celebrating Passover. If you don’t know what Passover is or would like a refresher, it’s the story of Moses, the burning bush, and the 10 commandments. What continues to be most relevant in my opinion is how Moses commanded the Egyptian Pharaoh of the time to let the enslaved Jews go free, and the Pharaoh refused. As retribution, God delivered 10 plagues. (If you want to read the whole story, you can do so here.) If I had to summarize the story of Passover, it’s about escaping plagues and seeking freedom. What does that have to do with today? More in this week's post. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/another-world-is-probable/support

I keep thinking about the murders in Atlanta and what I can personally do other than what I’ve already done, which is to donate and speak out. What came to mind is writing on worldview. How you view the world is how you act in the world. If other people are less than, inferior, objects that exist solely for your pleasure, then it’s not hard to murder them or hurt them in some other way. The reverse is also true: If other people are equal to you, fellow human beings that have the same needs that you do, you’ll treat them with respect. Furthermore, the reality is we all need each other, we all have something special to give. This concept is illustrated so beautifully in Gary Ferguson’s book The Eight Master Lessons of Nature. More in this week's post. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/another-world-is-probable/support

Here in the U.S., the prevalent perspective is one of rugged individualism and separateness. Instead of viewing all of us as being in this together, we operate from a materialist worldview that says only matter is real and humans are alienated from not only each other, but everything. The materialist worldview says the cosmos doesn’t have any consciousness and thus it becomes much easier to objectify, well, everything. But there is no "other" or "out there." This cosmos is a spider web and if you pull on one thread, it vibrates the rest of them. More in this week's recording.  --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/another-world-is-probable/support

This weekend I had a small taste of what other people have been experiencing for the past year with this pandemic. Serenity, a cat I love and the closest I’ve come to a pet since I moved out of my parents’ house, died. Under normal circumstances, I would have been able to say goodbye to her in person but because of the pandemic, I said goodbye over Facetime. I keep thinking about an article I read in the Atlantic nearly a month ago detailing Bhutan’s experience during this pandemic. It has me wondering, what would life be like in the U.S. if we followed Bhutan’s example? Would I have been able to say goodbye to Serenity in person? More in this week's post. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/another-world-is-probable/support

I'm an empath as well as a highly sensitive person. (If you want to determine if you're one too, you can take a self-assessment test.) It’s challenging because it takes so much freaking effort for me to just live in the world. Things that other people don’t give a second thought – like going to a sports game back when we could do that safely – I have to weigh the pros and cons. Most of the time, I think of sensitivity and empathy as gifts I’d like to return, but the reality is that doesn’t serve me. What's the solution here? More in this week's post.  --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/another-world-is-probable/support

I keep thinking about the notion that my higher power wants me to be happy, joyous, and free. Due to the trauma in my background, it’s a heck of a lot easier to think God wants me to be sad, miserable, and suffering. But is that really true? More in this week's post.  --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/another-world-is-probable/support

Looking through my Facebook memories, it seems February is frequently a month that I walk along the razor’s edge of fear and faith. At any moment it’s easy for me to slip onto one side or another. It seems only fitting because February starts with the letter “F” after all. While watching TV this weekend, I heard a line that resonated with me: “Faith is worthless if left untested.” How true. More in this week's post.  --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/another-world-is-probable/support

On Saturday, I remarked to some friends of mine that I’ve spent nearly a year querying literary agents for my novel and no one wants to represent me. One of my friends chimed in, “yet. No one wants to represent you yet.” That word snagged my attention because there’s so much hope and faith wrapped up in three letters. “Yet” implies not now, but in the future. More in this week's post.  --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/another-world-is-probable/support

If I’m being honest, I’m not doing that great. I woke up this morning with a swollen eyelid – not eyelids plural, just the one – I haven’t slept well for the better part of two weeks, I’m so tired my ears are ringing, and I’m pretty sure I’ll bite someone’s head off if they look at me funny. What's helping me is remembering the secret to meditation. More in this week's post. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/another-world-is-probable/support

When I was younger, anything felt possible. The future felt open, magical, and mysterious. However, then I became a bit of a cynic and the future has felt closed, prosaic, and straightforward. Now I'm coming back around and realizing with help, anything can happen. More in this week's post. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/another-world-is-probable/support

I’m resharing this post from September 2019 because once again, I find myself in a hallway, metaphorically speaking.  A close friend of mine used an analogy the other day that’s stuck with me. She said her higher power has closed a door in her life and hasn’t opened another one yet. That means for now she’s stuck in a hallway, waiting for another door to open. Yesssssss. That’s so my life right now. I’m in limbo, in a hallway, waiting for something new, for a door to open, but it hasn’t yet and it’s uncomfortable. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/another-world-is-probable/support

I came across an article the other day I found incredibly inspiring considering what we’ve all lived/are living through. In Australia, for the first time in decades, Christmas bell flowers are blooming in high numbers because of the bushfires that raged through the area in late 2019, early 2020. I love this story because so often when it comes to devastation and destruction, in my mind, everything is terrible forever. This story reminds me that’s not true. Certain plants only grow because of fire. And furthermore, something beautiful can come from something tragic. More in this week's post. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/another-world-is-probable/support

As we enter this new year, I notice I feel pressure to be hopeful and optimistic. Because vaccines are here! And a new president is on his way! And 2020 is officially done! All of that is true, and yet neither the past nor reality change just because we flipped the calendar. We still carry with us everything that came before and much remains unknown. I’m reminded here of the quote by Rilke about living our way into answers. More in this week's post. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/another-world-is-probable/support

Right now I’m reminded exactly 13 years ago I was in Europe for a New Year’s retreat. I haven’t thought about that trip in years. I think it’s coming up now not only because of the date, but also due to my emotional landscape. I’m in a liminal space where I’ve left something behind, but I’m not yet fully in the something new, which if you think about it encapsulates this year. This is the last week of 2020, which we’re all ready to put behind us, but we’re not yet in 2021. How does this relate to my trip to Europe in 2007? Keep listening. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/another-world-is-probable/support

The monotony of life has been getting to me lately. I know for the most part what each day will bring: work, a walk, and a Zoom call. If variety is the spice of life, my life is pretty bland at the moment. There’s a pinch of variety in terms of decorating my apartment for the holidays, and FaceTiming with my family for Hanukkah, but otherwise it’s pretty monotonous over here. The question becomes what can I do now, in this present moment, to bring variety? More in this week's post.  --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/another-world-is-probable/support

We each have a light within us that is longing to burn ever brighter, to radiate within ourselves and those around us. In this holiday season, may you also remember the light being that you are. May you remember you are more than the sum of your parts, and may you also endeavor to shine a light on all parts of yourself. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/another-world-is-probable/support