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This month, our Elephant Gathering focused on writing our way to empathy, with a writing exercise:

Join our First Friday monthly Gatherings (free) or watch previous Gatherings: elephantjournal.com/gathering

“Lately, I’ve struggled with confusion around my feelings of care for Mike, and Maya, and Shambhala, and the Sakyong, and the sangha, and all the conflicts therein. Lately, I’ve struggled (in a happy way) with my feelings of overexcited young love. Patience. Lately, I’ve struggled with feeling burnt out in my work—I love it no less, but it seems to take and take and take and for 18 years in many ways I’ve put my life off, and I’m no longer a kid, and there are other things I can do to be of benefit if Elephant is to be drained of power by Facebook and Instagram’s algorithms and folks no longer subscribing enough to pay my staff well enough. Lately, I’ve struggled with feelings of impatience around our development of elephantjournal.com, as we improve our ecosystem so that we can be a platform, not a big web site, so that we can grow and pay our writers and be of real big benefit. Lately, I’ve missed my mom (can’t travel to Canada because of Covid). Lately, I’ve wondered why our big fun videos don’t always get a big live crowd, even if they go on to connect with 100,000s after the fact. Live is fun! Lately, I’ve wondered why more folks don’t clue in to Elephant Academy, when it’s so helpful and so rich.” ~ Waylon Lewis

Write your Heart Out with us this fall.

Our full, live, original, classic Elephant Academy is back and is $200 off through September 13th with code SHAREYOURHEART

Fall in love with your sweet self.

Join our Maitri: How to Fall in Love with your Sweet Self at 50% off during pre-registration (for not much longer!).

A mindful round-up of articles mentioned in the meeting:

1. Pema Chodron: a Buddhist teaching on Loneliness, Rejection & a Broken Heart.
2. The Most Important Article on Elephant, Ever: Maitri.
3. How to work with Regret or Guilt.
4. Those who have made the ultimate sacrifice for our Country are “Suckers” and “Losers.” ~ President Trump
5. 10 Great Eleanor Roosevelt Quotes.
6. Jane Elliott: If you Know you aren’t Racist, watch this Blue-Eyed, Brown-Eyed Test.
7. Pretty much my favorite Buddhist quote ever.
8. The notion of Ikigai or Right Livelihood can Save our World by Serving our Commonwealth.