Why Loving Moments With Strangers Carry Lasting Benefits
On a typical day, you experience numerous fleeting exchanges with people you don’t know, often without a word: a quick smile of acknowledgement as someone holds the door, a moment of eye contact to navigate a crowded aisle at the grocery store, or even a brief chat with a total stranger. Are these interactions with […]
The Power of Imperfect Work in an AI-Driven, Perfection-Obsessed World
Want more posts like this in your life? Join the Tiny Buddha list for daily or weekly insights. “Have no fear of perfection—you’ll never reach it.” ~Salvador Dalí We live in a world that worships polish. Perfect photos on Instagram. Seamless podcasts with no awkward pauses. Articles that read like they’ve passed through a dozen […]
Our Favorite Books of 2025
The year 2025 hasn’t started out great. We’ve seen foreign wars, climate change, racist rhetoric, and political polarization escalate over the last several months, making many of us angry, burned out, and depressed. But even when things seem inescapable or hard, it can be helpful to remember that we have personal agency in how we […]
The Mental Illness Recovery Paradox
Most people think the hardest part of a Mental health crisis is the illness itself. In my case that would entail the acute experience of psychotic depression. And it is often true that acute mental ill health is extraordinarily disorienting and frightening. I wouldn’t wish my previous symptoms of psychotic depression on anyone and they […]
3 Surprising Causes of Burnout That Most People Miss
Want more posts like this in your life? Join the Tiny Buddha list for daily or weekly insights. “Love yourself first and everything else falls into line.” ~Lucille Ball The first time I experienced burnout, I was twenty-six. I was at the height of my career in London, doing it all, and yet I somehow […]
Work Is Not Family: A Lesson I Never Wanted but Need to Share
Want more posts like this in your life? Join the Tiny Buddha list for daily or weekly insights. “The paradox of trauma is that it has both the power to destroy and the power to transform and resurrect.” ~Peter Levine I was sitting in the conference room at work with the CEO and my abusive […]
Creative Writing as Play Therapy
Over the past year, we have been working closely with colleagues here at Boston College to develop a psychologically rich, humanities-informed Creative Writing Master’s Program oriented toward professionals and clinicians who want to hone their craft as writers while deepening their understanding of the human psyche. The idea behind this undertaking is simple: Great writing […]
5 Surefire Signs You Grew Up with an Emotionally Immature Parent
Want more posts like this in your life? Join the Tiny Buddha list for daily or weekly insights. “There’s no such thing as a ‘bad kid’—just angry, hurt, tired, scared, confused, impulsive ones expressing their feelings and needs the only way they know how. We owe it to every single one of them to always […]
How Estranged Parents and Adult Children Can Heal
A recent Cornell study found that 27% of adults are estranged from a family member. Research from Ohio State finds that 26% of fathers are estranged from an adult child—and that fathers are 22% more likely to be estranged from a daughter than a son. Other studies estimate that 11% of mothers have little or no contact with an adult child. And a […]
Letting Go of the Life You Were Told to Want
Want more posts like this in your life? Join the Tiny Buddha list for daily or weekly insights. “To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment.” ~Ralph Waldo Emerson Ever since I was about four years old, I knew I was different from the […]