Charlie’s Blog

I became aware during college that I was drawn to remoteness amidst gatherings of people, and self-imposed deprivation amidst plenty. So it was not as unusual as it may sound that for nearly a week during one Thanksgiving break I confined myself alone to the depths of...

His Holiness the Dalai Lama gave a public lecture in our little town, Northampton, Massachusetts. When he invited questions from the audience, he was asked if he had any advice for raising children. “Raise children? Me? I’m afraid I have no experience.” He laughed his...

Was I out of my mind? Standing at the porch, having already rung the doorbell, I was having serious second thoughts. Maybe this wasn't such a good idea. In short, I was scared! I had just walked nearly half a mile through the neighborhood to find the house, and I was...

The first two paragraphs provide a very brief summary of the principles of Change and Acceptance, which I covered in more detail in the last two blogs. So if you prefer, you can jump past them and go right to the principles of the Dialectical Paradigm. Think of any...

Presence Impermanence Non-attachment Inter-being Perfect-as-is One Sunday in October, years ago, I was driving my family to visit a wonderful Halloween maze created every year by a farmer in his field. I don’t recall what I was thinking about, but I was preoccupied...

Yesterday I was getting dressed in the locker room at the YMCA after swimming. I overheard a conversation taking place between two guys who obviously knew each other. One was upset with his son-in-law. He’s been complaining, on and on and on, about the fact that the...

Marsha Linehan developed DBT to help suicidal individuals get out of emotional hell and to help them build lives worth living. As it turns out, the therapeutic action of the treatment seems to depend on helping the patient gain the capacity to regulate emotions more...

For years my wife contributed money to a nearby animal shelter. In the annual drawing, her name was chosen from those of other contributors, amounting to her first ever win in a contest like that. And the prize was immense: two nights for two people at the Plaza Hotel...