Today my 15-year-old left for London for a week, her first time away from the family. She is with 30 school friends, and chasing her dream of a career in theater. We are so proud.

We are also a bit nervous. Let her come back to us safely, with memories to last a lifetime, and an even stronger resolve to create a great life.

Later today my iPhone lost all it’s contacts and calendar, and I have yet to solve the problem. But I feel that I must only ask for one divine intervention today, and my daughter is infinitely more important. So I smile and work on reconnecting the dots of my work and social life, with no complaining.

I also read today the story of a poor woman with cervical cancer in the Netherlands, who blindly followed Macrobiotics (imperfectly, alas), while her husband grew angry and finally abandoned her as he could see her need for modern medicine in order to save the mother of his children.

Regardless of whether Macrobiotics is right or wrong, I feel it’s most important for people to feel free and peaceful in life. This woman was a prisoner of fear, and indoctrinated in a practice that she did not understand. That lack of control, and widening gap in relations with her husband certainly contributed greatly to her demise.

Peace then…