The Tao of Joy and Sorrow is an exploration of how two companions—Joy and Sorrow—intertwine in our lives. This journey is both a personal tool and a quiet invitation: a way to Train for Joy, and to find the courage to Navigate through Sorrow.
The Sufi poet Kahlil Gibran wrote an essay titled Of Joy and Sorrow that has long been a touchstone for me. In it, he reminds us that our capacity for joy is carved by our experience of sorrow. His words invite reflection—and balance. My quest is to better understand this interplay. Perhaps yours is, too.
While in this podcast we may return to the idea of Beginnings, for me this final summation from Ancient Wisdom may hold enough for some of us to take that first step forward, toward what is unknown. To step into BEGINNING.
19 Sept 2025
Training for Joy
Joy is not a trivial pursuit. It is training, it is choice, and it is one of the deepest acts of resilience we can make.
19 Sept 2025
The Stillpoint
I return to the idea of my still point often when my life feels chaotic — rushing, striving, resisting, distracting. It is there, waiting for me to find my way back to what is so very familiar, to my inner home, my center. As much as I need to train for Joy, I also need to train for retreat, back to my still point, where I am able to observe, re-align, rest.
16 Sept 2025
Balance
In Taoist thought, balance is never static. It is not a destination but a rhythm, an ongoing dance of yin and yang. Beginnings disrupt our rhythm, and so each start requires a recalibration. A return to center as we ride the interplay of yin and yang, rooted tree and flowing river. This is not something we achieve, but rather something we respond to, moment by moment, with awareness.
16 Sept 2025
The Body’s Wisdom
The body remembers what the mind forgets. It holds our ancient wounds, and childhood laughter. Within, we find our deepest truths, and our hardest sadness. Our body carries our Joy and cradles our Sorrow. And always, always—it is our body that leads us home.
16 Sept 2025
Settling in with Discomfort
Suffering, I have come to learn, is often pain multiplied by resistance. Pain is unavoidable—it’s part of being human. But resistance? That’s where we make things harder. When we resist, we layer on fear, denial, avoidance. It’s like trying to dam a river with our bare hands. The water doesn’t stop flowing. It just finds another way—sometimes flooding the places we thought were safe.
11 Sept 2025
Shadow Reflections
Over time, I’ve come to think of Shadow as a character on my inner stage, standing alongside Joy and Sorrow. Shadow isn’t invited, but always arrives with a gift—the gift of discomfort, truth, an opportunity to observe…me. An invitation to recognize qualities in myself I tucked away long ago to stay safe in what I call the “Wonder Bread World”—static, predictable, boring, safe. Beyond that bland safety lies boldness, confidence, visibility… and yes, my fears of foolishness, indulgence, and in...
10 Sept 2025
Ho’oponopono
Many of us have broken bonds—fractured love connections with family, friends, or partners. The silence can be deafening, and resolution may be far beyond our control. Still, this practice has become a bridge for me. A path toward healing; a way to walk through the sorrow of what was lost and may never fully return. An opening to new beginnings. I am sorry Please forgive me Thank you I love you
10 Sept 2025
Riding Transitions
The Tao reminds us: life is like a river. You cannot step into the same river twice — both you and the river have changed. Transitions are the riverbank moments. One step on solid ground, the next into moving current. The river does not promise smooth waters, but it does promise movement. And our task is not to force the river to be calm, but to learn how to ride its flow with stillness in our center.
10 Sept 2025
Trust the Magic of New Beginnings
Perhaps the deepest truth is this: beginnings are not one-time events. They happen daily, in small choices — to listen, to forgive, to create, to walk, to love. To trust the magic of beginnings is to live awake to the possibility that each moment holds the seed of something new. There is purpose again. Not achievement. Not perfection. But purpose.
28 Aug 2025
Touch the Trailhead
Years later, while hiking back down from Cathedral Lake with my husband ahead of me, a woman climbing up asked me, breathless: “Is it worth it?” I smiled and nodded, but I didn’t explain because it is not about the lake, which is breath-taking, It is about showing up. Meeting the incline. Noticing the birdsong, the breeze, the meadows in bloom. It’s the soul satisfaction of showing up.
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