“What’s happened over these four years? I really thought Harry’s funeral, at this particular funeral home, would be a truly terrible event for me; all but impossible to get through. Unbearable. I…

“Yes, we are definitely afraid of being attacked, particularly when we are new to the training, but there is so much more: fear of someone’s strength, fear of someone’s anger, fear of looking…

“For me, and the over 400 other lovely maniacs from all over the globe who are my training partners, the camp represents an uber-immersion in our beloved martial art. We are all here…

“And here I am in 2016, sitting next to Sally in this neighborhood arena in Forest Hills, surrounded by people of mostly my generation, all in various states of raw awe, all with…

“It’s difficult to be ‘away.’ Being away is being not at home, not where your heart is, not where your peace and power reside. Being home is being who you are and who…

“It was the middle of the night, it was snowing, it was bitter cold, and I was in the middle of upstate New York with nothing but farmland around. And I was a couple…

“No matter what is going on between people, it is always a relationship—nothing happens unless the other person is there with his or her energy. No anger, no harmony, no conflict, no love. No nothing.…

“This ‘answer’ has come to be the watchword of my faith, my touchstone to tap in the midst of problems, unhappiness, confusion, or even joy. It brings focus and perspective to me, and…

“When the truth appears, especially those truths about myself that I’m not so pleased to see, I am much more welcoming. I know not only the futility of denying and manipulating these facts,…

“Growing up, I was interested in all the normal sorts of things my peers in suburban Pennsylvania were interested in, yet there was one thing that seemed to be mine alone, a love…