From the beginning of his presidency, Donald Trump has been the most difficult person in my life. On February 13, 2017 I began sending him a message with a loving-kindness blessing every day via the White House contact page. Starting with the February 20th message all of the letters are reproduced here, and I plan … Continue reading Hello and Welcome
Love and Compassion
“Mother of Exiles”
Dear President Trump, Gosh, yesterday morning when I wrote to you about the positive things from the day before, I really was sending you a sincere thank you. Now, though, I am back to feeling disgusted by you, and dismayed. Unfortunately, it’s really no surprise at all and rather, it was the sincere thanks that … Continue reading “Mother of Exiles”
Sincere thanks
Dear President Trump, Eating my lunch yesterday I had a chance to peek at NPR and saw the article describing the open meeting you had with congressional leaders on immigration and for a few minutes I entertained the fantasy that maybe I’m getting through to you. It was so surprising and really quite wonderful that … Continue reading Sincere thanks
We need full-on rebellion
Dear President Trump, Today is a new day. I know yesterday was a new day when it was today and tomorrow will be a new day when it becomes today so there are chances for new starts all the time. I’m especially grateful for this particular new day because I finally have a useful way … Continue reading We need full-on rebellion
A magical Christmas
Dear President Trump, Have you had a happy holiday? I hope so for our sake. Given that everyone around you seems desperate to keep you content and on an even keel, I imagine there was some serious holiday engineering at your house today. Who was in charge of running the show? John Kelly or Melania? … Continue reading A magical Christmas
Let’s have holidays on our own terms
Dear President Trump, Did the Ghost of Real Life visit you last night? If so, whose dishes did you do? It would be good for you to visit different families across the country and the world, especially those dealing with war, drug gangs, and famine. You could, of course, walk to the White House kitchen … Continue reading Let’s have holidays on our own terms
Have you ever washed dishes?
Dear President Trump, Have you ever washed dishes? I’d be surprised if you have ever done any cleaning at all. Our dishwasher broke recently and we haven’t yet replaced it so we are doing lots more dishes by hand. It’s ok, it’s kind of meditative, and there’s a certain satisfaction in getting everything neat and … Continue reading Have you ever washed dishes?
Mary’s Story Retold
Dear President Trump, Here is the prayer I read in church today: “Every day for the last 307 days I have written Donald Trump a letter to express my thoughts and feelings about what is going on in our country since he took office. In response to our collective struggle with the depths of America’s … Continue reading Mary’s Story Retold
“The softer I am with myself, the easier I am with others”
Dear President Trump, This morning I edited a paper for work about a qualitative study we did with Veterans who have PTSD who participated in a mindfulness-based stress reduction class at our VA and I came across this quote from one of the participants: "What I’ve learned about me is that the softer I am, … Continue reading “The softer I am with myself, the easier I am with others”
Studying uncertainty
Dear President Trump, I'm not sure how long I’ll keep this up, but I asked myself (the Universe, God, etc.) again about what is keeping me from being consistently in harmonious balance, sensing it isn't enough to stop with yesterday’s idea that my well-being is independent of everything going on. I do think there is … Continue reading Studying uncertainty
Daily Trump Letters 