Welcome dear friend, So honored that you have taken the time to visit. For those who do not know me, my name is Trudy and I’ve been practicing mindfulness meditation for many years. Sitting in stillness has helped me sustain joy through all the ups and downs of life. On this site you’ll find an abundance of… Continue reading
As long as my mother was alive, she sent her children a Valentine’s Day card. The envelope was adorned with red heart stickers and on the back, in increasingly tremulous handwriting, she would write S-W-A-K (sealed with a kiss). The sweet wishes didn’t vary from when we were children to my being a grandmother. It… Continue reading
The Buddha encouraged his community to meditate in the forest at the foot of a tree, beginning a long tradition of reverence for nature in Buddhism. Spending time in nature, we can sense the intimate connection between the natural world and our own nature. There’s a circuitry between the health of the environment and our… Continue reading
Just home from traveling halfway around the world for a couple weeks of meditation retreat. Since there are wonderful retreat centers right here in California – Spirit Rock, Big Bear, others – why go spend weeks in the heat of Southern India, in an austere ashram accompanied by clouds of mosquitoes, swarms of ants and… Continue reading
After my divorce from a husband I adored, I was in shock. How could someone I trusted so completely have turned out to be different from what he appeared to be? During the course of our marriage, I’d occasionally had the sense that something was wrong, and I would ask him about what I was… Continue reading
I wake up to a clear winter sunrise in LA. It’s already the fifth day of the new year. Like a dream, the holidays are past, whether sparkling or somber. It’s 2019 now. Here we are, rowing our boats gently down the swift stream of time. Is life really but a dream, as our childhood… Continue reading
“A spiritual tradition is not a shallow stream in which one dips one foot and retreats to the shore, it’s a mighty tumultuous river that rushes through one’s life.”– Bhikkhu Bodhi As one year morphs into the next, it’s a good time to pause and ask what you most want for 2019? Asking an… Continue reading
Today is the solstice, the first day of winter, when Earth’s axis tilts the Northern Hemisphere farthest from the sun’s warmth. It’s the shortest day and the longest night of the year. This year a full moon (called the Cold Moon, or the Long Night Moon, by Native Americans) coincides with the solstice, along with… Continue reading
For years, my vision couldn’t be corrected properly with glasses. Unlike most people, I’ve been waiting eagerly for the time to have cataract surgery where a new lens can be put into the eye. Usually it’s a simple, routine procedure, but with some damage to my corneas, it’s trickier. Thursday was the surgery on the… Continue reading
When I was little, I wanted to know about money, and why some people were called rich. I asked my mother, “Are we rich?” My father was an academic and my mother a homemaker who sewed and ironed our clothes and froze our tuna sandwiches in bulk. After they defrosted in our lunch boxes we… Continue reading