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Manage your email by not managing it

Email, as far as I’m concerned, is one of the greatest inventions ever. But it seems like almost everyone has trouble organizing it, keeping up with it, and managing it—or spends a lot of time and effort on it. I used to think I must be the world’s worst email manager and that someday I’d [...]

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Start planning for a peaceful holiday season with these 10 tips

Most of my friends here in the US have been rolling their eyes about the Christmas decorations that have been in stores for weeks already, long before Halloween arrived on October 31. It does seem odd to see fake, glittery Christmas trees standing out like awkward newcomers at a party for leaf rakes, chrysanthemums, and [...]

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Start your own personal peace project with these five steps

If we are afraid to touch our suffering, we will not be able to realize the path of peace, joy, and liberation. —Thich Nhat Hanh The Heart of the Buddha’s Teaching Many of us worry about wars, terrorism, and violent crime. And we might think we have to join the Peace Corps or the United [...]

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The surprising truth about hot fudge sundaes

Peace comes from within. Do not seek it without. ~Buddha When I was 19, I worked as a short order cook and sandwich maker in a kosher-style deli in the Catskill Mountains of New York. Back in the early 80s, the Catskills—or the “Borscht Belt,” as the area was known—were at the tail end of [...]

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Let go of judgment: five tips for letting love in

Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing, and rightdoing, there is a field. I will meet you there. –Rumi We humans categorize, name, and label things to make sense of the world: clouds are white, the sun is warm, dogs are furry, crackers are crunchy, roses emit an odor. We attach names to things and group them [...]

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