From SivanaSpirit By Lisa Cappiello: I’d like to believe that because I’m a yogi, a healer, and an ongoing spiritual seeker, that I’m immune to jealousy. Especially since I believe that jealousy is such an unnecessary, low-vibrational state of being, and I never want it directed toward me. But I’d be lying. Truth be told, there…

By Michael Davidson “He who lives in harmony with himself lives in harmony with the world.” ~Marcus Aurelius At the end of August I moved to Madison, Wisconsin. This was my second major move in a year. In both cases, I was separated from almost my entire prior social network. After college, making friends seems like…

By Charlene Anestis “I don’t know a perfect person. I only know flawed people who are still worth loving.” ~John Green Do you ever wonder if that voice in your head is right? Do you re-live events, scouring through every detail to look for places where you went wrong in your actions? Do you ever walk…

By Jamie Hufnagle “There is a huge amount of freedom that comes to you when you take nothing personally.” ~Don Miguel Ruiz I was a chunky, shy little girl who was attached to my mom’s leg. She was my protector and served as a source of unconditional love. As I left my mom’s side and went off…

By Kiara Elliott “Silence isn’t empty. It’s full of answers.” ~Unknown Last week I was visiting the Scandinave, a Scandinavian-style bath spa, with my mom, when it struck me how rare true silence has become. By true silence, I mean silence in the form of not speaking, but also silence in the form of reflection, pause,…

By Alicia Rodriguez “At the end of life, the wish to be forgiven is ultimately the chief desire of almost every human being. In refusing to wait; in extending forgiveness to others now; we begin the long journey of becoming the person who will be large enough, able enough and generous enough to receive, at the…

By Lori Deschene “Most of our troubles are due to our passionate desire for and attachment to things that we misapprehend as enduring entities.” ~Dalai Lama If there’s one thing we all have in common, it’s that we want to feel happy; and on the other side of that coin, we want to avoid hurting. Yet…

By Alana Mbanza “No feeling is final.” ~Rainer Maria Rilke I met him the last semester of college and was instantly attracted to him.  I was definitely attracted to him physically, but it was the way he sat in class with such quiet confidence and mystery that made me long to know him. I practically drooled…

By Maria Stenvinkel “We do not heal the past by dwelling there; we heal the past by living fully in the present.” ~Marianne Williamson I’ve struggled with it. Letting go, I mean. I’ve struggled with moving on from my past. I’ve struggled with ridding myself of guilt, shame, and grief. I’ve struggled with freeing myself from…

By Nicole Barton “Everything in the universe is within you.” ~Rumi When I was twenty-three, I lost my job through chronic illness. I thought my life had ended, and I spent the next few years an anxious, panicky mess—often hysterical. Eventually, I took off to scour the globe for well-being techniques, and searched far and wide for…

By Monica Viera “One reason people resist change is because they focus on what they have to give up instead of what they have to gain.” ~Rick Godwin Dave and I met earlier this January. I was immediately attracted to his aquamarine eyes and his tattoos. I met him on the eve of my twenty-sixth birthday…

By Jen Picicci “If you believe it will work out, you’ll see opportunities. If you believe it won’t, you will see obstacles.” ~Wayne Dyer Gwen and I first met at a lactation group for new moms. She seemed like someone I’d get along with, and we talked here and there, eventually becoming Facebook friends, but nothing…

By Bryn Bamber “I used to dislike being sensitive. I thought it made me weak. But take away that single trait, and you take away the very essence of who I am. You take away my conscience, my ability to empathize, my intuition, my creativity, my deep appreciation of the little things, my vivid inner life,…

By Stephanie Deni Let’s face it, we can’t always have what we want.  There will be times in your life when the person you desire simply does not desire you back.  When what you’re seeking is not seeking you and it can be really devastating and at times, quite difficult to get through and get…

By Beth Clayton “Life is the dancer and you are the dance.” ~Eckhardt Tolle The day I decided to leave acting felt like being exorcised from my own body. I was twenty-nine and had been dreaming of being an actor from the time I first saw a regional production of Cats around the age of eight. I spent…

By Anonymous “Never fear shadows. They simply mean there’s a light shining somewhere nearby.” ~Ruth E. Renkel My last breakup was on April 16th, 2012. I remember the date because on the evening of April 17th, as I sat with a blotchy red face and tears in my eyes, my dad told me I soon would…

By James Leatherman “No feeling is final.” ~Rainer Maria Rilke I’ve battled depression for most of my life. In my younger years, it gripped me pretty frequently. I was first hit with suicidal thoughts at the age of fifteen, and it scared the bejesus out of me. I was young and dumb and had no idea…

By Craig James Ruvere “Our lives improve only when we take chances and the first and most difficult risk we can take is to be honest with ourselves.”  ~Walter Anderson Society has a series of unwritten and sometimes unspoken laws they expect both males and females to abide by without question—a perceived set of standards and…

By Berni Sewell “You are imperfect, permanently and inevitably flawed. And you are beautiful.” ~Amy Bloom “Just look at yourself!” “That chubby face, those massive hips and thighs. The stumpy legs.” “No wonder he doesn’t love you anymore. No wonder he left you for her! She is so much prettier than you are.” I stood in…

By Steve Kaminsky With a lift of his chin and a bit of a grin, Without any doubting or quiddit,  He started to sing as tackled the thing  That couldn’t be done and he did it. —Edgar Guest   I’ve always believed in the adage “actions speak louder than words.” I’ve never been one to seek…