By Carol Roberts, MD “It is insane to be normal in an insane world” “Normality” is a relative term that depends on your degree of programmed conditioning into the culture you were born to. Recognizing that we have been programmed is not an admission of stupidity or naivete. Programming must occur for a child to be included in the culture it was born into. Education for the role(s) a person intends to fulfill must be done according to the prevailing wisdom, with updates as k

By Linda Sechrist The first inkling that I was traveling the road less traveled came with the acknowledgment of a longing for something I could not name. It took time—and several changes in my life—to recognize what that longing was. I was longing to feel whole. When that lightbulb finally went on, I realized the distance between my sense of emptiness and my longing for wholeness was equal to the distance between Boston and Los Angeles. And I was walking, not driving. Looking

By Douglas Bonar When we live in harmony with the evolutionary impulse — the creative current that animates all life — we open ourselves to extraordinary possibilities: expanded human capacities, meaningful synchronicities, cosmic gifts, and grace. These are not guaranteed outcomes, but natural expressions of deeper alignment. The universe remains mysterious, and that mystery is part of its beauty. We are still learning to tune our awareness to the intelligence that moves thr

By Gary R. Uremovich, DMin, PhD What a 91-year-old artist taught me about wholeness, aging, dignity, and the courage to remain fully alive. Some people teach us by instruction, some by example, and a smaller number teach us simply by the way they inhabit their lives. Gunni was one of those people. She was ninety-one when she died. Even writing that sentence gives me pause, because age has a peculiar way of swallowing identity in our culture. Once someone reaches ninety, the n

By Linda Sechrist My days begin, before I even get out of bed, with a yoga nidra session, followed by Samaneri Jayasara reading the words of spiritual masters such as Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj, Ramana Maharshi, Papaji and others. Among my favorite sessions are the words of Nisargadatta, taken from his dialogues with individuals who traveled to India seeking his wisdom. These dialogues were translated and published in I Am That: Talks with Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj in 1973. Sinc

By Douglas Bonar I’d like to introduce you to three people who truly influenced my life trajectory and whose writings I’ve found relevant to a broader evolutionary context, in sync with my writing on the emerging story of oneness, wholeness and interbeing. To me, they all offer hope for the future of humanity. Via a mixture of pure chance, synchronicity and intent, I was introduced to them, and I intuited that they had important information about the emerging story. Only no

By Carol Roberts, MD You may not have heard an astonishing bit of news that surfaced a few weeks ago, but you need to know this. An elderly Japanese American woman had been locked in by Alzheimer’s Disease. She had not spoken in several years, did not react to her family’s visits, couldn’t dress or wash herself and for all intents and purposes was disconnected from life entirely. She had trouble walking and couldn’t hold her urine, day and night, for 5 years. Then one day an

Gary R. Uremovich Hello, friends. I am Gary R. Uremovich, and I am pleased to join the Groking Wholeness community as I begin a new monthly series entitled Aging Into Wholeness. For most of my adult life, I have been interested in a discovering the answer to a simple question: What helps people continue to grow when life changes? That question has followed me through several careers and many seasons of life. I served for twenty-six years in the USAF, spent more than four deca

Equal Rights and Justice for All Reflections on Promoting General Welfare vs Personal Advantage​​ A recent Pew survey found that nearly 70% of Americans are dissatisfied with the direction of their country. Gallup says only about half of Americans are “extremely proud” or “very proud” to be American, a 25-year low. A recent NPR/Marist poll released on July 1, 2026 found that eight of ten of Americans say the U.S. has moved from founding principles. In our view, these viewpoin

By Linda Sechrist Have you ever had a moment when you looked in the mirror and wondered, “How can the image staring back be me?” I have. I thought about that one moment for days, even months, and I still return to it. I believe it stayed with me because it caused my mind to stop thinking, creating a gap that allowed me to pause and feel it so deeply. It resonated, striking a chord with my feelings in that instant. Nothing like it had ever occurred to me before. I’d never had

By Carol Roberts, MD One of the most important philosophers I have encountered in my life is a skinny boy named Bob Dylan. Recently I came upon a quote from him, now a skinny older man. Here’s what he is saying now: “The best thing about being 80 is that you outlive the clocks that have been chasing you. It’s freedom from that lie that anything was ever under control. The worst thing about being 80 is that you still want to say yes to everything but the world moves without

By Douglas Bonar Disclosure Day Movie – My Thoughts I’m writing this musing soon after watching Steven Spielberg’s acclaimed movie, Disclosure Day. I believe you (dear readers) are aware of the premise of the movie, the hype, and most likely, the growing media buzz about our relationship with extraterrestrials. I invite you now to look within, not outwardly to the movie or the media. I invite you to explore feelings related to an expansion of human consciousness and an und

Reflections By Linda Sechrist Over the past few months, I’ve revisited numerous articles that I’ve written for Natural Awakenings, a healthy lifestyle magazine. Yes, over the last 22 years, I saved all 264 issues, finally getting around to looking back on a little more than a quarter of a century of my life—at last throwing out the clutter. It’s been a sort of life review. What I’ve been most grateful for in the process is that it required me to reflect on the lessons I learn

By Douglas Bonar I’m pondering two paths. One involves transcendence and enlightenment, and the other involves awakening and transformation. Certainly, there are overlaps and congruence. And as certain, there are other paths. Paths to what? Paths to the conscious evolution of the human species and “the more beautiful world our hearts know is possible.” The dominant human worldview based on separation is clearly outmoded and not working. An updated worldview is emerging

by Douglas Bonar Chaordic Age I borrow the term chaordic from Dee Hock (1929–2022) the founder and CEO of the Visa credit card association. He wrote The Birth of the Chaordic Age in 1990, and its expanded edition One From Many in 2005. The term chaordic is the blend of chaos and order. Hock introduced the word in 1993 during a speech where he described systems that are simultaneously chaotic and ordered, self‑organizing, adaptive, and decentralized. He coined the word becaus

by Mark Pitstick, MA, DC Mark Pitstick The goals of the wonderful organization Groking Wholeness overlap those of my outreaches so I am honored to write this article. My journey of awakening really took off at age 19 when I worked part-time as a respiratory therapist during my pre-med studies. Being with many suffering and dying adults and children brought me to my existential knees. I resolved to find sensible and, whenever possible, evidence-based answers to life's bigge

By Eli Kolp and Gary Uremovich Eli: Life is a dream for the wise, a game for the fool, a comedy for the rich, a tragedy for the poor. Gary: Thank you, Eli, for such a short but startling conversation starter! Gary: I have to respond to what you said! I sense that life is a spiritual complicated journey of confusion, confession, and, finally, confirmation. I appreciate how your saying reflects something true about the human condition, but it does not yet reach deeply enough.

How to access and enjoy good stuff and times in life! An early admission. The title isn’t accurate as it primarily relates to the yin aspect, as I’ll clarify. However, it really is catchy, don’t you think?! And, I believe, pertinent. Oh, and the subtitle isn’t really accurate either. It would better read “How to access and enjoy good stuff and times in life while concurrently living in harmony with the earth and its inhabitants,” but that would be too long a subtitle. So

By Douglas Bonar Keep this poem in mind as you journey into this written offering. I’ll come back to it later. When I heard the learn'd Astronomer Walt Whitman 1810 - 1892 When I heard the learn’d astronomer, When the proofs, the figures, were ranged in columns before me, When I was shown the charts and diagrams, to add, divide, and measure them, When I sitting heard the astronomer where he lectured with much applause in the lecture-room, How soon unaccountable I became tir

Feeling and experiencing LIFE Stream of Life Rabindranath Tagore [1861-1941] The same stream of LIFE that runs through my veins night and day runs through the world and dances in rhythmic measures. It is the same LIFE that shoots in joy through the dust of the earth in numberless blades of grass and breaks into tumultuous waves of leaves and flowers. It is the same LIFE that is rocked in the ocean-cradle of birth and of death, in ebb and in flow. I feel my limbs are