Emilie Richards

“Some people could be given an entire field of roses and only see thorns in it. Others could be given a single weed and only see the wildflower in it. Perception is a key component to gratitude. And gratitude is a key component to joy. -Amy Weatherly   Sometimes we think of gratitude as something…

“Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend. It turns problems into gifts, failures into successes, the unexpected into…

“Nothing is more important than empathy for another human beings suffering. Not a career. Not wealth. Not intelligence. Certainly not social status. We have to feel for one another. if we’re going to survive with dignity. -Audrey Hepburn

  “The secret to living well and long is: eat half, walk double, laugh triple, and love without measure.” -Tibetan Proverb   The best thing about proverbs? So much truth is packed in so few words. This proverb is pregnant with the secrets of life and a recipe for taking care of the body and the…

“You gain strength, courage and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face… Fear is the path to the Dark Side. Fear leads to anger, anger leads to hate, hate leads to suffering.” –Yoda. You may be visited by a number of cute little Yodas tonight, and when…

“What an astonishing thing a book is. It’s a flat object made from a tree with flexible parts on which are imprinted lots of funny dark squiggles. But one glance at it and you’re inside the mind of another person, maybe somebody dead for thousands of years. Across the millennia, an author is speaking clearly…

“Trees need their protective bark to enable the delicate process of growth and renewal to unfold without threat. Likewise, we must have our boundaries and defenses so that the more vulnerable parts of ourselves can safely heal and unfold. But our growth also depends upon our ability to soften, loosen, and discard boundaries and defenses…

Several weeks ago I read the following powerful essay on Facebook. The text was mistakenly credited to Anthony Hopkins, but a little research turned up the real author, Brianna West, a blogger, essayist and poet, who is also an editor and partner at Thought Catalog. I immediately realized how much I needed to follow her…

“Time is too slow for those who wait, Too swift for those who fear, Too long for those who grieve, Too short for those who rejoice, But for those who love,  time is eternity.” -Henry Van Dyke   **Our apologies if you received this in your email last Sunday, as well. It was not postponed, as we planned. Can we…

“God is not a Christian, God is not a Jew, or a Muslim, or a Hindu, or a Buddhist. All of those are human systems which human beings have created to try to help us walk into the mystery of God. I honor my tradition, I walk through my tradition, but I don’t think my…