Schuster Family Medicine and Osteopathic Care

04/06/2026

Confused about protein? Here's how to figure out your optimal intake

The Dietary Guidelines released this year recommend higher levels of this essential nutrient. But protein needs are personal. Here's how to assess yours.

04/06/2026

EASTER BLESSINGS

"On this Easter morning, let us look again at the lives we have been so generously given and let us let fall away the useless baggage that we carry -- old pains, old habits, old ways of seeing and feeling -- and let us have the courage to begin again. Life is very short, and we are no sooner here than it is time to depart again, and we should use to the full the time that we still have.

We don't realize all the good we can do. A kind, encouraging word or helping hand can bring many a person through dark valleys in their lives. We weren't put here to make money or to acquire status or reputation. We were sent here to search for the light of Easter in our hearts, and when we find it we are meant to give it away generously.

May the spirit and light of this Easter morning and the special spirit and light of this abbey at Corcomroe bless us all, watch over us and protect us on our journey, open us from the darkness into the light of peace and hope and transfiguration."

JOHN O'DONOHUE
Dawn Mass Reflections at Corcomroe Abbey

Excerpt from his books: Walking in Wonder (US/UK) / Walking on the Pastures of Wonder (Ireland)
https://johnodonohue.com/

Corcomroe Abbey
County Clare, Ireland
Photo: © Ann Cahill

03/08/2026

A home is not simply a building; it is the shelter around the intimacy of a life. Coming in from the outside world and its rasp of force and usage, you relax and allow yourself to be who you are. The inner walls of a home are threaded with the textures of one's soul, a subtle weave of presences. If you could see your home through the lens of the soul, you would be surprised at the beauty concealed in the memory your home holds. When you enter some homes, you sense how the memories have seeped to the surface, infusing the aura of the place and deepening the tone of its presence. Where love has lived, a house still holds the warmth. Even the poorest home feels like a nest if love and tenderness dwell there.

JOHN O'DONOHUE

Excerpt from his books, Beauty: The Invisible Embrace (US) / Divine Beauty (Europe)
Ordering Info: https://johnodonohue.com/store

County Clare Cottage Window, Ireland
Photo: © Ann Cahill

03/02/2026

Important to keep in mind

WÚWÉI

My master liked challenges. He could instantly counter every fighting scenario I proposed to him (or any outright strike for that matter). This extended to philosophy too. I was uninhibited in throwing every spiritual question at him at any time, and as provocatively as possible. He always answered without hesitation.

"What about wúwéi?" I asked him. "It's supposed to be effortless action, flow, an easy way of life."

He turned and looked at me with pity.

"Think of it as wú suǒwéi," (無所為) he said. I knew instantly what he meant. I had heard this phrase all my life. It meant acting without intentions. Vernacularly, it's similar to people today saying, "no worries." They mean that there are no problems, no consequences, no trouble. There is no issue or offense because nothing bad was intended.

My master elaborated: "It means you don't have ulterior motives to what you do. In other words, don't be selfish. “

As I worked on translating the Dàodéjīng, I thought of his lesson. The wéi 為 in wúwéi can mean "to serve." So my master was telling me that wúwéi meant "don’t be self-serving."

Then I realized that I had been lectured this way since childhood. I had always been told, especially by my grandmothers, "Don't think of yourself." In Chinese, it was literally, "don’t (wú 無) act (wéi 為) for yourself." I was supposed to serve (wéi 為) my family and community. (Note: wéi 為 also means “for” so there’s a double emphasis implied: don’t act FOR yourself.)

More next week, but for now, consider that wúwéi is not the self-serving promise that you'll get results for nothing: "Oh, I don't have to make any effort and everything will happen the way I want."

The terms in the Dàodéjīng almost always carry multiple meanings. This is part of Lǎozì’s writing strategy. We can’t translate the text by mere search-and-replace, designating a single meaning for each ideogram. Wúwéi has many meanings, including effortless action, only it doesn’t mean the self-serving promise that others have asserted it to mean. I will support these ideas with passages from the Dàodéjīng in future posts.

02/15/2026

There is a lovely idea in the Celtic tradition that if you send out goodness from yourself, or if you share that which is happy or good within you, it will all come back to you multiplied ten thousand times. In the kingdom of love there is no competition, there is no possessiveness or control. The more love you give away, the more love you will have.

JOHN O'DONOHUE

Excerpt from the book, Anam Cara,
25th Anniversary Edition.
Ordering Info: https://johnodonohue.com/anam-cara

Dromoland Castle Garden Roses
County Clare, Ireland
Photo: © Ann Cahill

02/12/2026

There is a kindness that dwells deep down in things; it presides everywhere, often in the places we least expect. The world can be harsh and negative, but if we remain generous and patient, kindness inevitably reveals itself. Something deep in the human soul seems to depend on the presence of kindness; something instinctive in us expects it, and once we sense it we are able to trust and open ourselves.

JOHN O'DONOHUE

Excerpt from the books, Benedictus (Europe) / To Bless the Space Between Us (US)
Ordering Info: https://johnodonohue.com/store

County Clare, Ireland
Photo: © Ann Cahill

02/12/2026

A reason to smile

Ann Powers | February 12, 2026During a Sarah McLachlan performance, the chills come when you least expect them. One of the most expressive singer-songwriters...

01/18/2026

https://www.npr.org/2026/01/15/nx-s1-5611117/beat-anxiety-insomnia-get-back-to-sleep

People struggling with insomnia tend to hyperfocus on the fact that they can't sleep, which can prevent them from getting any shut-eye. Experts share effective practices to overcome sleep stress.

01/14/2026

BLESSING FOR PEACE

As the fever of day calms towards twilight
May all that is strained in us come to ease.

We pray for all who suffered violence today,
May an unexpected serenity surprise them.

For those who risk their lives each day for peace,
May their hearts glimpse providence at the heart of history.

That those who make riches from violence and war
Might hear in their dreams the cries of the lost.

That we might see through our fear of each other
A new vision to heal our fatal attraction to aggression.

That those who enjoy the privilege of peace
Might not forget their tormented brothers and sisters.

That the wolf might lie down with the lamb,
That our swords be beaten into ploughshares

And no hurt or harm be done
Anywhere along the holy mountain.

JOHN O'DONOHUE

From the book, Benedictus
County Clare, Ireland
Photo: © Ann Cahill
https://johnodonohue.com/

01/13/2026

THE GOOD YOU’VE DONE

Don’t look back on family pictures,
where your children were babies
but are now adults living far away,
and sigh, “where did it all go?”

It went to new life, to grandchildren,
to joy and happiness spread wide.
It went to inspiring new hope,
and proof that wisdom guides.

Tell your children not to weep
to see you were once young.
Tell them to laugh and be glad:
as a family, you created lasting love.

01/07/2026

This is an important differentiation. Solitude is not loneliness. We can be very lonely in the midst of many people, even family.

Everyone needs a little alone time, but with the current pandemic, you might have either too much "me" time or not enough. Let's get that balance back. This episode breaks down some of the research behind what makes even small bouts of solitude restorative and what to do when you're alone too much.

01/07/2026

One of my favorite poems

START CLOSE IN

Start close in,
don't take the second step
or the third,
start with the first
thing
close in,
the step
you don't want to take.

Start with
the ground
you know,
the pale ground
beneath your feet,
your own
way to begin
the conversation.

Start with your own
question,
give up on other
people's questions,
don't let them
smother something
simple.

To hear
another's voice,
follow
your own voice,
wait until
that voice
becomes an
intimate private ear
that can
really listen
to another.

Start right now
take a small step
you can call your own
don't follow
someone else's
heroics, be humble
and focused,
start close in,
don't mistake
that other
for your own.

Start close in,
don't take
the second step
or the third,
start with the first
thing
close in,
the step
you don't want to take.

-from David Whyte: Essentials

‘Start Close In’ is A New Year’s poem if ever one was written, but it was written at, and for, all those thresholds of our life where we need to find a tiny, often un-illuminated footing in the dark, hidden deep inside our sense of self. A hidden place to step onto and then, when found, a place to step from. I’m very touched by all the comments to the post and all the lives the poem has touched in turn. My close in step in writing the piece has led to me holding so many other hands as I go, each of us, individually and communally, trying to find our way into the next dispensation of our lives. DW

The next Three Sundays Series, The Invitational Identity begins Sunday, January 4th at 10:00 AM Pacific Time. Learn more or register here: https://davidwhyte.com/store/three-sundays/jan-2026-series/