My friend Tal introduced me to the poem “Butter Knife” by poet Hollie McNish. Here’s an excerpt:   my heart has pumped for 40 years without me even asking and you tell me to keep my elbows off the table to use a different knife for butter   caterpillars don’t grow wings they […]

A Reading from the opening chapters ofRabbi Brian’s Highly Unorthodox Gospel   1:1 Radical Openness To Love Imagine you and I are in a fantastic, cosmic music academy—a beautiful, large room filled with the shiniest, most beautiful French horns.    And imagine that in this magic world, I do my best to encourage growth, minimize

26. Problems with Perfection       Hello, beloved friend,   Truth? You are a bit of a perfectionist.   No use arguing. It’s true.   You know what’s right and what’s wrong. And you make it known—not always secretly—that you know how things should be.   Nothing wrong with this. Well, nothing wrong with

Book excerpt 2:5 Thou Shall Be Thy Own Authority Perhaps—and I say perhaps only to soften the message—an external deity isn’t the true authority of your spiritualigious life. And perhaps—again, just saying perhaps to soften the idea—no person outside of yourself is the best authority on your spiritualigious life.  This isn’t to say that you

Wood You Like To Learn? I walk through the house to the front porch holding a piece of wood that needs to be smoothed out and then installed in the kitchen drawer.As I pass my 15-year-old daughter, I ask, “Do you want to learn how to sand?”She does not.And that’s fine.Learning about methodically, in a

Go To Bed, Dad.  It’s Tuesday night.  I’ve just come downstairs and entered the living room; Jane, Annie, and a beloved young friend, Calliope, are sitting there.  I’ve known Calliope since she was born 21 years ago in Los Angeles.  She’s in town to see Noah Kahan, a musician she and Annie enjoy. Consequently, last

    Hello Beloved friend,   I don’t have an article for you this week. And, I’m sorry.   I’m working (mindfully, with compassion towards myself, and full-throttle) on the Kickstarter book launch next week.     Kickstarter Kickstarter is a global crowdfunding platform focused on creativity that has helped 500,000+ projects to raise the

On the first Monday of the month, I send out a looser, chattier article.   So, “hi.”   ===   Today’s newsletter is a compilation of a few short-thoughts on:   joy less hate love patience.         Joy.   Joy doesn’t exist when we are in shame or guilt. Joy exists only

In ancient Rome, immediately behind the generals parading through the streets celebrating their most recent victory, there was a servant paid to repeat over and over to the lauded conqueror, “Memento Mori”—remember that you will die.   Can you even imagine Caesar, in his hour of victory and achievement, so intentionally humbled?   Wow.  

    It’s the first Monday of the month, so it’s a slightly chattier 77% Weekly.   ===   Beloved reader,   I’d love to frame it as “I am figuring out how to do things right,” but that doesn’t feel authentic.   I can’t frame it like that. Because I’m doing something wrong. I’m