Practicing conscious crying started with being very present to that that little second where I felt emotion welling up, but wanted to resist the emotion. I had to stop resisting the emotion. Crying is one of the healthiest presence practices I’ve adopted.

If the point of the holiday season is to celebrate, to feel connected, to be merry--and the things that the culture at large has told you to do don’t actually have you feeling happy--why, oh why, would you continue to do them? Remember: if it’s not leaving you feeling fully-alive, it’s not truly living. Read more on the radically alive holiday: "on your own terms" edition.

It would be fair to say that I was born to live on my own terms. But the truth about "living on your own terms" is that it doesn't come without "costs," in a world where there are the consequences of judgements from others.

I've got the fool-proof, no-fail guide to finishing what you start. It has worked for me, every time. It’s this: If you really want to finish what you start, tell the truth about your life.