Desire, Shame, and the Heart–Liver Connection
I didn’t grow up in a religious home. We didn’t go to church, there were no sermons or commandments hanging over our dinner table. But my mother carried a kind of quiet Puritanism that shaped everything. In her world, wanting things was suspect. Beauty was indulgent. Restraint was virtue. She never said it outright, but […]
Letting the Old Identity Die
I’ve been asking myself lately whether I should renew my acupuncture license.It’s not the first time I’ve asked the question, but this time it feels different.The renewal fee is $500 — not an insubstantial amount — and I haven’t practiced in over a year and a half. I could keep it in inactive status like […]
The Foundations of the Dao: Understanding the Core Patterns of Nature
Observation of nature forms the foundation of Daoist thought. It’s about grasping how life moves and learning how to go with it rather than against it, not about rigid ideas or abstract theories. Understanding the basic patterns that define existence will help us to develop in daily life a greater sense of harmony, clarity, and […]