Last week in a newsletter, in response to President Trump’s “fire and fury” statement against North Korea, I wrote that instead of meeting difficulty with thoughtfulness, justice, and compassion, we’re seeing reactivity and hate. I called our national leadership, “un-mindful.” One member of the mindfulness-in-law community said that I’d missed the point. “We need to be less critical of the people we elect,” she wrote back. “Using your criticism to…
“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men [and women] are created equal,” endowed with the rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. It’s difficult see how self-evident those truths are, in our country, on its birthday, this year. But mindfulness has some truths that are self-evident and can help with the difficulties. Consider the “Four Noble Truths.” Translated into legalese, the Four Noble Truths are…
Lucy says, “I hate everybody. I hate the whole world!” Charlie Brown replies, “I thought you had inner peace.” “I do!” she exclaims. “But I still have outer obnoxiousness.” And lawyers? Sadly, we’re often the poster children for outer obnoxiousness. But it’s not totally our fault. We’re permanently overwhelmed. We’re reactive by training. And we’re perfectionist by nature. Plus, we work in a combat zone. The conditions are not exactly…
Equanimity for lawyers – I don’t think it’s just for those moments when we’re encountering internal struggle. It’s also about how we feel when we know what we’re doing, and people don’t take our advice. I don’t know about you, but some people in my life matter more than others. And for those people, when I know what I’m doing, I really want them to take my advice. Take my…
I've been thinking lately about equanimity. Is equanimity even possible for lawyers? Every day in the law is a battle, and equanimity can seem pretty illusive. Our practices are full of uncertainties. We never know when we’ll win or lose, be praised or blamed, get an award or get slandered. We never know when we’ll have a moment of pleasure, and when we’ll be devastated. In the language of mindfulness, these…
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