The space we find ourselves in ends up affecting our mood, our actions. I cannot write out the monthly bills on anything but an organized table. Some people cannot write creatively on anything but yellow legal paper. Others cannot relax until the dishes are done. Some cannot sleep without "their" pillow. We all have ingredients that have to be in place for us to do certain things. The same is true for prayer/meditation. Having the right time and place established can really help us build this beneficial and calm time into our hectic schedules.

I'll admit my finger is not exactly on the pulse of Hollywood happenings. I have far too much going on in my life to add celebrity watching to the list. However, when there is a natural or home birth in Hollywood (things near and dear to my heart), the news usually crosses my path one way or another. And so I was both surprised and pleased to read yesterday that Jessica Alba's new daughter Honor Marie Warren was born via a natural hypnobirth.

Earth Day has come and Earth Day has gone, but still we are standing on this orb scratching our heads and wondering what to do to save her.  

I want to write something light and airy, something that will make you all howl with laughter. I want to write something frothy and giggly. But it just isn't in me. I watch the election news, listen to the endless posturing and positioning, and feel so man-handled by the spin doctors that I ought to file molestation charges. So today's column is about how to find joy in the midst of mayhem -- how to find solace in a world jam packed with tragedy.

At the estimated age of 91, the man who made transcendental meditation a cultural phenomenon has passed away. For many of us who grew up in America through the 1960's, Maharishi Mahesh Yogi gave us the first view we had into a spiritual experience beyond our own.

Apparently Wednesday was "World Reiki Day", I guess I "sort-of" missed it. But, since Reiki really does deserve to have a whole week of awareness...I'll officially declare this "World Reiki Week". Can I do that??? Hope so. Okay, now that that is settled, let's talk about Reiki.

I remember returning to Chicago's O"Hare airport after a stay in a quiet Austrian village. My first impression upon returning to America was that I had landed in a hive of bees. The airport, the highways, the city were full of a buzz and hum and dizzy pace from which I had stepped away. It did not take long for that gap to bridge -- for me to join back in to the scurry and clicking and whirring and thrumming. My life ramped up at an astonishing pace and stayed in overdrive for a long time.