sand towers I stand on the beach watching a child kneel down building with their hands mounds of sand like towers overlooking the ocean. They build, she builds three, four piles of sand, really just
spoken word at 31 I want to speak in poetry, where the silence means as much as the sound — where silence is sound. Let this silence be stillness, the listening of this body to the creek passing through worn rocks on a journey downstream.
celebrating the harvest I want to learn to take up space that arises out of confidence and faith in my own song, a space that is expansive and immediate, grounded in the present moment, alive.
Stilling the ocean Meeting sorrow and disappointment in the midst of ongoing acts of violence against Asian people, particularly Asian womenI touch into my anguish and fear of inhabiting this Asian body at a time of
Bringing my values to the workplace as an Engineering Manager My mission is to build empathy and wellbeing into engineering teams. How can I create the conditions to foster belonging, wonder, integrity, and contribution in the workplace?
The world I'm building One day I want to build a company without borders, one where an Arab and an American and a Chinese can gather in a virtual space and build a better, more peaceful world
Welcoming this body to 2021 An annual love letter to myselfDear one, It is time to lay your body down to rest. Offer your torso and legs a bed of wildflowers, your head a soft pillow of grasses.
Crafting a Memory of Wellbeing from the Car Crash I was in the forest with a notebook and pen, listening to a message from the trees. The energy was easeful, spacious, curious. I wrote and listened and breathed in the slightly smoky
The message from the trees Not long after requesting a message from the trees, I slammed into one going 15-20 mph in my car. The tree stood strong. My head slammed into the steering wheel twice, leaving me
Red sky Wildfires are raging across California. The sky is burnt red orange grey. Ash has settled on my stationary car, the bare earth, the leafy trees near my window, my moving body. Ash signifying
ease and encouragement I give the ease in my body space to enjoy the bird calls coming from the three pines. A plane hums overhead. Genmaicha in my cup. The air is cool and wet and
kickboxing and joy Today a friend and I were both feeling down, so I proposed we do yoga together over Zoom video. Can I be honest with you, Melanie? They said. I don’t want to
Constriction and space (3 ways) 1Constriction is in the furrowing of my brow, visible to only the sharpest observer running in line from my third eye to throat to belly button a sharp arrow on the war path
Sit.Walk.Listen: Bringing "collective awakening" to the streets of San Francisco This past Sunday June 14, I sat crosslegged in front of San Francisco’s City Hall, letting the words of the poet Langston Hughes flow over me, a vast and powerful river connecting
On race, privilege, and inclusivity in practice space Dear Thay, dear sangha, I feel moved by a Native friend’s email thread and by the recent police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis to look deeply into inclusivity in our sangha,
The eve of 30 Tomorrow is your 30th birthday. You will celebrate at home, surrounded by the love of your brothers, mom, and dad, in a time of blooming water lilies, red maple saplings, and an ever
meditation on rainbows on balance and letting goSometimes we must let go of what brings us wonder and ease to allow us to breathe and to enjoy anew. Imagine if a rainbow were to be present
A cozy quarantine-retreat in Jerusalem There is nowhere to go, nothing to do. Today is a lazy day in Jerusalem and I am on day 10 of quarantine.
Co-creating a safe container to enable true presence Documenting my agreements for my coaching relationship with Leo, as they become foundational for relationships throughout my life
Welcome home (to 2020) There is no perfect offering. All you can do is meet the moment as you are. You are enough. I am enough. When I touch the enoughness within my body, I open to the beauty in me and around me.
This is it Life is short. If not now, when will I choose happiness? When will I say yes to love and growth, despite fear of abandonment and loss? If not now, when?
On thinking big Today, during a meeting in the French Hill kicking off a new project in Issawiya, I found myself explaining a mentality of scarcity to my partners: Let's start by assuming we can work for free.
A bowl of soup You are invited into this house of love, Melanie. Come, wash your hands and sit down for a bowl of soup. It is cozy and warm inside, and the water is delightfully cool at the kitchen sink. The fixtures are metal, solid, glimmering.
Openness Aware of the suffering created by fanaticism and intolerance, we are determined not to be idolatrous about or bound to any doctrine, theory, or ideology, even Buddhist ones. We are committed to seeing the Buddhist teachings as guiding means that help us develop our understanding and compassion.
