Like unexpected money found in last season’s coat pocket, I discovered a scrap of paper in my wallet this morning. It’s a quote I must have torn out of a magazine and tucked away for a rainy day, by Charlotte Joko Beck. On this gray day that’s neither winter nor spring, when my mood seems to match the weather, I’m glad to have found it…

Here are the words that we have printed out, hung by our desks, posted on sticky notes on our fridges. Thanks to everyone who sent me quotes, poems and sayings that keep them going and provide inspiration in their lives.

My friend Ibrahima does not know which day or year he was born. He came into this world in Guinea, West Africa, where his native language N’Ko had no written form until very recently. To obtain a passport, he had to approximate how old he was and select a day that felt right to him.

If you can spare 15 minutes, take a look at this beautiful video about the organization founded by my teachers — the Zen Center for Contemplative Care.

I’ve been practicing deep listening this week. I find it challenging enough to simply stop what I’m doing and turn around to face my kids when they’re trying to tell me something. In the grocery store, I even noticed that it’s entirely possible to walk in, navigate the aisles, stand in the check out line, swipe my credit card, pick up my bags and leave without ever so much as looking someone in the eye or saying a word. It’s a soul-numbing experience, and I don’t recommend it.

By the time I was in my mid-twenties, I was so hopelessly addicted to travel that I vowed to combine it with my ideals – vaguely defined as anti-poverty and women’s rights – and somehow cobble together a career out of it. As part of my jobs, I traveled to Bangladesh, Thailand, Kenya, Egypt, Israel, Palestine, Peru. I loved being invited into the lives of locals…

“How was Turkey?” kind friends and family have been asking. After being home for a couple of days, the only way I can think to describe it is as Lakshman says of his life in the Ramayana, “It’s like something I dreamed once, long ago, far away.” If you promise to come over, we’ll serve tea in clear glasses, show you the whole album, and send you away with a cobalt blue charm to ward off the evil eye.

I used to have a neighbor who would yell at her young children a lot. I would listen to her voice reverberating through the thin walls of our building and vow that if I ever had kids, I would never do that. Plain and simple. Fast forward a decade plus and – well, you can guess where this is going!