2022 has been a very full year for me: full of new creative projects, relationships, challenges, and opportunities. It’s also been an exciting year, as I’ve made new friends, learned new things, and stepped out of the comfort zone of my past into the wild unknown of my future.

“I just told you this client attempted suicide a week ago, she has no coping skills, and nowhere else to go. Are you seriously suggesting that she’s ready to step–”
“--My finding is that the client is no longer a risk and is ready to step down to intensive outpatient. Goodbye.”

Click. I looked down at my phone: Call Ended.

Last week, the popular Twitter account @takezopure asked, “What’s the most underrated book you’ve ever read?” His question received 194 replies, including some great recommendations such as Vagabonding by Rolf Potts and Stoner by John Williams.

It’s often said that wisdom comes with experience. But I’ve found that in order to learn from your life experiences, you need to reflect on them. By now, most people who are into self-improvement or personal growth have heard of Past Year Reviews.

I’ve been following Tim Ferriss since 2008, when a friend turned me on to The 4 Hour Workweek. At the time, I was a recent college graduate who didn’t know what to do with my life. Tim had only recently stopped being a stressed out, overcaffeinated supplement bro and become a semi-enlightened bestselling author.

The other night I sat down to read a book. It was the end of a long workday. I’d already had dinner and made myself a steaming cup of chamomile tea. I was ready to relax and dive into what promised to be a captivating story. Two pages in: ding.

As our SUV curved along the winding mountain road to Taos Pueblo, storm clouds gathered in the sky. I was traveling with a group of friends and colleagues to visit a Native American settlement that is one of the oldest inhabited structures in North America.

I first discovered Loch’s work over five years ago, shortly after his first book, Shift Into Freedom, was released. At the time, I was a young therapist working at an alcohol and drug rehab center for men.

When I was 16 years old, I thought about ending my life. I hated high school. I dressed in black. I spent hours lying on my bed, listening to The Cure. I was seriously depressed. Until my sophomore English teacher assigned us to read Siddhartha, the 1922 novel by Hermann Hesse.

A few years ago, I started to notice a disturbing phenomenon: it was getting harder and harder for me to sit down and read a book. This was particularly worrying to me because I am a lifelong, library card-carrying, self-described “avid reader” and bibliophile.

Quick, right now–who are you? Are you your job title? Your role in your family? Your name? How about your body? Are those things all that you are, or just parts of you? If they’re just parts of you, then who are you, really?

Friends and clients often ask me the best way to start practicing meditation. The truth is, developing a meditation practice is deeply personal, and there’s no one best way for everyone. Having practiced for over 20 years now, though, I do have some thoughts on the matter.