(*Trigger warning: gun violence*) Today—May 1, 2020—is an interesting day for me, an anniversary of sorts but not one I ever wished to start. A year ago today, one of my hospice patients threatened me at gun point. Although I escaped physically unscathed, I have ...
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(Plus Simple Photo Instructions for Sewing a Cloth Face Mask) A few weeks ago, the CDC began recommending that everyone in the United States wear a basic cloth face mask while in public. In response, my friend, Sydney Morgan, created an easy-to-follow photo-based pattern for ...
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I recently posted about this mantra/prayer/saying on Instagram and it was so well-received that I decided to make it a blog post as well! This idea from A Course in Miracles is one of my favorite sayings/mantras/prayers ✨ Everything seems less anxiety-inducing and more peaceful ...
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Please note: I recognize there are several religious holidays celebrated at this time of year (and throughout the year), and I similarly recognize Religious Nones come from a variety of religiours backgrounds. However, I have chosen to focus this post solely on the Christmas holiday ...
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This morning, as I was cleaning the bathroom, I was reminded that cultivating our spiritual health does not always require spiritually-dedicated activities like prayer or meditation, nor extraordinary experiences like going on a pilgrimage or attending a week-long silent retreat. Rather, with awareness and a ...
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When was the last time you made a greeting card? Have you ever? Growing up, my brother and I always made our cards. Just a piece of construction paper and/or printed photo plus some felt-pens—a few minutes later we had a card! Then as an ...
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Box Breathing is a spiritual tool I first discovered in the book, Rising Strong by Brené Brown. It can calm the fight or flight response, aid emotional regulation (particularly around anxiety and stress), and center us in the present moment. I personally use it as ...
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The following is a blog post I wrote in Spring 2017 for the course Histories of Knowing, taught by Professor Amed Ragab at Harvard Divinity School. It is more information dense than my other blog posts. It is not focused on a spiritual tool but ...
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It turns out, doing a masters degree at Harvard is a lot of work! Not only has it been difficult to write regular blog posts, but it has also been difficult to prioritize practicing what I “preach.” As I study for days on end, I ...
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This semester, I had the pleasure of taking the Harvard Divinity School course, Bridges to JustPeace: Understanding Fragmentation, Inspiring Empathy, and Building Coalitions for a Just and Peaceful Future. The professor, Diane Moore—head of the Religious Literacy Project—created the course in response to the recent ...
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Happy belated Valentine’s Day! I thought I would write a quick note about an activity I shared with the Harvard Divinity School community today that centers on…LOVE! ...
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My favorite season is upon us! Leaves are preparing for their colorful flight, pumpkin spice lattes are in high demand, and there is a crispness to the air that invigorates my spirit and warms my heart. Not only does autumn bring a multitude of holidays—especially ...
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I don’t know about you, but I am feeling exhausted from the recent onslaught of human-caused tragedy. On Friday I learned that flags in the United States had been half-mast for 16 of the last 40 days, starting with the Orlando shooting, and more specifically ...
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This summer I am thrilled to be working as a student researcher at Dana Farber Cancer Institute, one of the hospitals affiliated with Harvard Medical School. Last week, my supervisor told me about a recently published study from the Harvard School of Public Health, which ...
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Life can be busy, and from my experience, this busyness can sometimes lead us off track, especially with regard to spirituality. Perhaps we stop meditating regularly, forget the daily spiritual text we normally read, or neglect to take conscious breaths. Suddenly we find ourselves being ...
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I am a recovering perfectionist. I quit “cold turkey” a few years ago, and it was one of the best choices I have ever made! As a general rule, I feel much lighter and more peaceful now. However, I still slip up occasionally. Some of ...
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I have been noticing this year just how “plugged in” I am all the time. It takes me five minutes to walk from my apartment to Harvard Divinity School. Too often I have spent that walk with my head gazing at my phone, reading emails, ...
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My goal for this blog is to share spiritual tools that I have discovered and am continuing to discover through my research and personal seeking. To begin, I am writing about the tool I see as foundational for all other spiritual tools: conscious breathing. (Interestingly, ...
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