Vicki Goldsberry's Page

Recently I've been re-reading Pema Chodron's book, When Things Fall Apart. Her words reminded me of the Sheng Zhen movement from Jesus Standing Qigong, "Looking into the depths of one's heart." Perhaps I finally understand.

Chodron first quotes Thich Nhat Hanh's words, "Suffering is not enough." She goes on to say that though discipline and honesty are important, those qualities without compassion and kindness are just plain mean.

I like that: I like the simple language, and I feel the… Continue

Transitions from one year to the next naturally and organically invite us to reflect on the past while we contemplate and plan for the future. Even if the concept of time is a construct we have chosen to help organize our existence, this cycle is inevitable, perhaps necessary, and -- we hope --constructive.

And so I, like many of you, have been considering my personal 2008... knowing that my inner space influences not only my life, but also that of the planet. I'm not feeling grandiose here --… Continue

Transitions from one year to the next naturally and organically invite us to reflect on the past while we contemplate and plan for the future. Even if the concept of time is a construct we have chosen to help organize our existence, this cycle is inevitable, perhaps necessary, and -- we hope --constructive.

And so I, like many of you, have been considering my personal 2008... knowing that my inner space influences not only my life, but also that of the planet. I'm not feeling grandiose here --… Continue

I think I have a new mantra.

Today, as I was driving north on that highway I so often travel, I drove up behind a brick-colored SUV. And on that SUV was a small, discreet bumpersticker:

Love > Fear

The driver wasn't an old hippie... or any other expected stereotype that my judgment might bring to mind... he was an older staid-looking gentleman. Just a normal man, a stalwart member of the community, sending me the message I needed to hear -- a Christmas gift -- via his bumper:

Love > Fe… Continue

A while back someone dear to me gave me a copy of Etty Hillesum's wonderful book, An Interrupted Life. In it he wrote, "I read this book when I want to remember what is really important."

Sometimes we do need to remember what is really important. Daily disenchantment can cause us to lose sight of the biggies... little disappointments can obscure the contentment that we do possess. I'm certainly guilty of falling into the trap of forgetting my blessings, and counting my losses.

What really is i… Continue