Ed and Deb Shapiro

Let’s Make Compassion Fashionable

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If we genuinely want to end hatred, bigotry, racism and abuse, if we genuinely want to bring real change to the world, then there is only one place to begin. We have to stop the war within ourselves by opening our hearts to ourselves and to all others, equally, for there will never be peace […]

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Making Friends With Panic

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Making Friends With Panic   Through Covid-19 we have been launched into the great unknown. It no longer seems relevant or even practical to make long-term plans, as everything is subject to such indeterminable change. The truth that all things are impermanent and can change in a flash has never seemed so real. But for […]

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Dinner with Monica Lewinsky or How to Make Friends With Yourself

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Monica Lewinsky has been in the news recently, which reminded us of the time we met her at a friend’s dinner party in London, England. As we left we thought about how tough it can be to move on in life beyond difficult or challenging times, such as Monica had experienced when her life played […]

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Are You Hanging Out With Fear?

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There are many things to feel fearful about these days. While anger is hot and loud, fear is more subtle and pervasive. It also has many different disguises. On the one hand, fear is a natural response to physical danger, but on the other it can be self-created, such as the fear of failure, of […]

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Taming The Dragons In Your Mind

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Soon after Nelson Mandela was released from 27 years in jail Bill Clinton asked him if he was angry about how he had been treated. “Tell me the truth, when you were walking to freedom, didn’t you hate them?” Clinton asked, referring to Mandela’s jailors. “You must have been so angry!” “Sure I was,” Mandela […]

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Why Santa is the Coolest Dude Of All!

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If you haven’t any charity in your heart, you have the worst kind of heart trouble.  Legendary Comedian Bob Hope Don’t let his appearance fool you. Santa may not look like a movie star but neither is he just a jolly old guy in a red outfit. He has the biggest heart, gives fabulous hugs, […]

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The Art Of Patience

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On a recent trip to India we had tea with Mary and Don, a devoted couple from Texas who, for over twenty-five years, had been running a clinic for disabled and handicapped children, for the poorest of the poor, in Chennai, South India. We wondered how, when they first arrived, they had coped with the […]

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One Way Your Ego Trips You Up

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One Christmas, when we were living in Brighton, England, we volunteered at a church that regularly feeds the homeless and needy at that time of year. But it was more than the hungry ones who got fed that day. After we happily dished out large helpings of turkey, mashed potatoes and gravy, followed by pudding […]

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5 Ways To Enhance Your Relationship

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Shortly after we were married, we went to India and spent our honeymoon in ashrams and monasteries. We were fortunate enough to have a private meeting with the Dalai Lama at his residence in McCleod Ganj, in the foothills of the Himalayas. “After some thirty minutes of talking I was feeling so moved by this […]

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Finding Your Sanity in the Midst of Chaos

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The question is, has the world gone nuts? It certainly looks like a lot of people are being driven by fear, hatred and greed. The protests in Chicago, the rising anger and animosity, is to the detriment of us all. Is it not time for some real sanity? Losing our sanity is about getting so […]

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