Bread for the Journey
May 8, 2026
May 8, 2026
Flowers fall even though we love them, and weeds grow even though we dislike them.
Dōgen Zenji
Dear Friends
As I get older-and I seem to continually get older- it seems to be the default position of the system- I find travel weighs on me more and I have a harder time recovering from long trips. It is accepting what is versus what we want to be…
Back from Berlin and Krakow, with a most amazing group of people. We explored professional ethics through the lens of a most dark chapter in our human history- 1933-1945. It was brilliantly done by FASPE- Foundation at Auschwitz for the Study of Professional Ethics-
https://www.faspe-ethics.org/
They are the most amazing group of scholars, educators and allied professionals who create a container of learning that you must experience to understand. At this moment in our history- as we continue to spin out as a society- we all must look at our common responsibility.
A rather eclectic collection today. From Flea and Nick Offerman to the concept of Radical Acceptance- to a short bit from a collection of authors on how to simplify your life… that is really all we want…. Artists-acceptance-simplicity.
Every year before Mothers Day- (I know a Hall mark Holiday) I republish Billy Collins’ poem- The Lanyard.. It holds the deepest truth- You can never repay your mother… Read this again. Sip and savor the meaning. Give thanks to all of those who have mothered you- cared for you and given you sight.
For some reason- as I am trying to post this- the links to the podcasts are not showing up- sorry about that- but you can find them. Will trouble shoot but I wanted to get this out- even if only for the poem.
Abide- and be grateful-
Bill
Best Of: Flea / Nick Offerman
Fresh Air
Flea co-founded the Red Hot Chili Peppers in 1982. The bass/trumpet player spoke with Terry Gross about how his music and his life have changed. “Thank God I’ve changed. I was a lunatic. I was 19 going on 10.” He has a new solo jazz album called ‘Honora.’ Also, we’ll hear from Nick Offerman. He stars in the new series ‘Margo’s Got Money Troubles,’ about a bright college freshman who gets pregnant and decides to keep the baby. Offerman plays her estranged father, a former pro wrestler who comes back into her life to help. The ‘Parks and Rec’ actor spoke with producer Ann Marie Baldonado about transforming for the role. TV critic David Bianculli will review Zach Galifianakis’ new gardening show.
Listen on Apple Podcasts:
Radical Acceptance
Hidden Brain
Last week, we looked at the hidden beliefs that can leave us feeling stuck in life. This week, in the second part of our conversation with behavioral scientist Dave Evans, we talk about radical acceptance. Dave shares why accepting reality as it is can be so difficult — and why it’s an essential first step in building a meaningful life. Then, in the latest installment of Your Questions Answered, psychologist Sarah Schnitker returns to answer listeners’ questions about patience. When something terrible happens in your life, are you destined to fall apart? In our latest YouTube video, we explore decades of research about how humans respond to grief, loss, and tragedy.
Listen on Apple Podcasts:
#864: How to Simplify Your Life in 2026 — New Tips from Anne Lamott, Claire Hughes Johnson, David Yarrow, and Diana Chapman
The Tim Ferriss Show
Many of us feel like we’re drowning in invisible complexity. So I wanted to hit pause and ask a simple question: What are 1-3 decisions that could dramatically simplify my life in 2026? To explore that, I invited four long-time listener favorites—Anne Lamott, Claire Hughes Johnson, David Yarrow, and Diana Chapman.
The Lanyard by Billy Collins
The other day I was ricocheting slowly
off the blue walls of this room,
moving as if underwater from typewriter to piano,
from bookshelf to an envelope lying on the floor,
when I found myself in the L section of the dictionary
where my eyes fell upon the word lanyard.
No cookie nibbled by a French novelist
could send one into the past more suddenly—
a past where I sat at a workbench at a camp
by a deep Adirondack lake
learning how to braid long thin plastic strips
into a lanyard, a gift for my mother.
I had never seen anyone use a lanyard
or wear one, if that’s what you did with them,
but that did not keep me from crossing
strand over strand again and again
until I had made a boxy
red and white lanyard for my mother.
She gave me life and milk from her breasts,
and I gave her a lanyard.
She nursed me in many a sick room,
lifted spoons of medicine to my lips,
laid cold face-cloths on my forehead,
and then led me out into the airy light
and taught me to walk and swim,
and I, in turn, presented her with a lanyard.
Here are thousands of meals, she said,
and here is clothing and a good education.
And here is your lanyard, I replied,
which I made with a little help from a counselor.
Here is a breathing body and a beating heart,
strong legs, bones and teeth,
and two clear eyes to read the world, she whispered,
and here, I said, is the lanyard I made at camp.
And here, I wish to say to her now,
is a smaller gift—not the worn truth
that you can never repay your mother,
but the rueful admission that when she took
the two-tone lanyard from my hand,
I was as sure as a boy could be
that this useless, worthless thing I wove
out of boredom would be enough to make us even.
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