Ann Elizabeth Grace, Author

I’m fascinated by the ways in which people unintentionally create their own suffering. Often our stress comes not from what is happening in our lives, but from the way we interpret what is happening. More specifically, from identifying with our thoughts to the degree that we believe they are the truth—then justifying, defending, and acting on them. Endless dramas arise from this simple phenomenon, from wars on an international scale to small resentments that chip away at relationships between individuals.

Naturally, I am my own best guinea pig when it comes to understanding self-induced suffering. A couple of days ago, while standing on a crowded train, I caught a belief that has been impeding my happiness for quite a while. This private struggle had become old and stale, and I realized that the belief was no longer serving a positive purpose. Silently I asked the question, “How can I drop this belief?”  Read more…

Over the past five years, I’ve been living on the West Coast: first in Oregon, then in California. 2009 brought with it the feeling that I’d become so merged with my environment that it had become part of me, as natural as breathing. I thrived on this sense of belonging, community, place. Yet, inevitably, restlessness to push my “edge” again started to kick in.

When my husband landed an internship in Vienna, Austria, we were both thrilled about the opportunity to explore a new culture and language. January was a blur of packing, saying goodbyes, and tying up countless loose ends. In the blink of an eye, we found ourselves nestled tightly into our airplane seats, zipping across the pond and musing about life on the other side.  Read more…