Here's why I made this guide: I'm pretty forgetful.  I read the most helpful and inspiring stuff, and it changes my life for a few weeks -- and then it slips my mind.  I sometimes learn important and liberating life lessons, usually the hard way -- and then a little ways down the road, I've lost sight of them.  

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Starting around the 15th century, when books were more difficult to come by, people wrote down their favorite passages, quotations, recipes, etc. in something called a commonplace book.  I've been making commonplace books, myself, for a couple of decades, due to the whole forgetfulness thing, so that it's easier to find those lines that had moved me.

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Then, a few years back, I started keeping a similar type of notebook for the life lessons I was learning along the way.  I actually started doing this for the benefit of the practice itself: I found that when I was in a rough spot, asking, "How can I study this situation in order to learn how to overcome it?" was the one thing that rescued me from the quicksand of self-pity and put me on solid ground again.  Becoming a student of life made me feel sturdy and strong even when my circumstances were otherwise scary.  

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But no small benefit of this practice was that, in time, I did actually learn how to overcome some of these obstacles, and navigate through some of those difficult feelings!  Hidden inside each difficulty were the keys to getting free of it.  As I was discovering these keys, I started to gather them into an outline, so that I could find them again.  I've since found it immensely, embarrassingly helpful to go back and read this outline when I'm in a rough patch again, and be reminded what helped the last time I was there (forgetfulness springs eternal).  

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The lessons that I've learned, the lessons that wiser guides have offered us, the poetry and music that artists have created for us, and most of all, the lessons of your own that you can share with others in this community -- this is what this site hopes to make accessible so that everyone can get what they need when they need it.  

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Beyond that: the Truth section of the site is just what I feel deep down is the most important thing for everyone to know.  The Thrive section is for not just getting through difficult spots, but actively getting stronger and more at home in yourself when things are good, too.