The Mindful Word

WHAT TEACHING MEMOIR WRITING HAS TAUGHT ME: Holding space for other people’s truths

Diana Raab — Mon, 21 Sep 2026 18:00:00 +0000

The woman was in her late sixties. She said she started writing a memoir about the story of her deceased husband. She claimed she was writing the memoir as a gift to her family and didn’t care if it ever got published. She wasn’t a published writer but had been journaling for many years. She began reading what she wrote about her husband’s life and subsequent motorcycle accident. The workshop participants and I listened in awe. Her words were strung […]

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THE MORAL LIFE BEGINS WITH A QUESTION: “Why do I believe this is right?”

George Cassidy Payne — Wed, 16 Sep 2026 18:00:00 +0000

Most of us inherit our moral worlds before we’re old enough to know that we’re inheriting them. Our parents teach us certain things. Religion teaches us others. Schools, friends, neighbourhoods and popular culture fill in the gaps. Our experiences do some of the teaching, too. Something that happened to us when we were young can quietly become a principle we carry for decades. Eventually, though, life has a way of interrupting what we thought we knew. Someone we love does […]

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WHEN LIFE BREAKS YOU OPEN: Finding the silver lining in the midst of clouds

Diana Raab — Mon, 14 Sep 2026 18:00:00 +0000

My father, a Holocaust survivor, always reminded me to look for the silver lining. Even though he’s been gone for 37 years, I still feel him over my shoulder, whispering those words, especially in life’s darkest moments. At the time, I didn’t realize how often I’d need that wisdom. In 2001, when I was 47 and just one month before the World Trade Centers fell, I was diagnosed with DCIS, an early form of breast cancer. It was the beginning […]

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LEARN TO NOTICE THE SMALL THINGS: How gratitude changes the way we see ordinary days

Bushra Fajar — Wed, 09 Sep 2026 18:00:00 +0000

For a long time, I thought gratitude was something I was supposed to feel when something wonderful happened. Good news, an achievement, a special occasion—those were the moments that seemed worth celebrating. Ordinary days felt different. I’d wake up, get ready, study or work, talk to people, finish whatever needed to be done and go to sleep. Then the same routine would begin again. Nothing seemed particularly special about it. At some point, though, I started noticing how much of […]

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MEGA-GEM: How mindfulness and gratitude complement each other

Kunal Mehra — Mon, 07 Sep 2026 18:00:00 +0000

What happens when two practices meet each other, perhaps unexpectedly? Gratitude and Mindfulness are two intimately intertwined gifts. On their own, they’re powerful and nourishing. But when they meet each other, hold hands and walk along on the journey of life, their relationship becomes an upward spiral of growth, peace and joy. How does that happen? Simple. I sum it up as a MEGA-GEM: Mindfulness Energizes Gratitude And Gratitude Energizes Mindfulness. How mindfulness energizes gratitude When you pay attention to […]

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THE WAY WE HOLD OURSELVES: Why self-compassion and connection are so important for women

Jenn Sims — Thu, 03 Sep 2026 18:00:00 +0000

There is a particular kind of exhaustion that many women know well. It’s the exhaustion of carrying the invisible things. Remembering birthdays. Checking in on everyone. Managing emotions in the room. Caring for children, partners, parents, friends, colleagues and communities. Trying to be successful while also being present. Trying to look like we’re managing it all—even when, underneath the face we’re presenting to the world, we’re wondering when we’ll finally have a moment to breathe. Somewhere along the way, many […]

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INTELLIGENCE: What if it isn’t what we think it is?

George Cassidy Payne — Tue, 01 Sep 2026 18:00:00 +0000

A whale can remember the voice of a companion for decades. A human being can invent a mathematical proof no one has ever imagined. A machine can generate an essay in seconds by detecting patterns across billions of pieces of text. We call all three intelligent. But what exactly are we naming when we use the word intelligence? We tend to think of intelligence as something we possess. Some people have more of it, some have less. We measure it […]

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WHAT THE PIANO TAUGHT ME: 3 life lessons learned during my first few months of practice

Emma Terry — Wed, 26 Aug 2026 18:00:00 +0000

I can play “Happy Birthday.” I can play “Jingle Bells” and I know what the word pianissimo means. Most importantly of all, I now know the importance and power of daily practice, and that goes for any skill. I’ve seen the beautiful results of letting yourself be terrible and incompetent and continuing to try anyway. Six months ago, I started taking piano lessons. I’ve practiced for half an hour, six days a week since I had my first lesson and […]

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WRITING FOR OUR LIVES: 6 meaningful reasons to express yourself with words

Aine Greaney — Mon, 24 Aug 2026 18:00:00 +0000

For years now, I’ve read and loved the writings of Penelope Lively, a Cairo-born British author. In addition to her Booker-prize-winning Moon Tiger, my other favourite of hers is Making it Up—a 2026 novel based on pivotal moments in the author’s own life. However, instead of writing down or fictionalizing those moments, Lively asks: “What if?” As in: “What might have happened or unfolded if, back when, I had chosen or followed a different or alternate path?” The result? A […]

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THE RELATIONSHIPS THAT KNEW OUR OLD SELVES: Can they make room for who we’ve become?

Feon Chau — Wed, 19 Aug 2026 18:00:00 +0000

Recently, my shoulders began hurting again. It was the ache I used to get when I was working in a place I no longer work. Since leaving that job, I’d been taking better care of myself: sleeping, exercising, eating well and living more of my life. So when the ache returned, it caught me off guard. I’d been putting off thinking about it because there was no easy way to deal with what I suspected. When I told my husband […]

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