Episode 10: Contemplative Practice and Advice from Elders with Celso Perez
March 30, 2021
Charles Vogl returns with Celso Perez to discuss daily contemplative practices that help us escape day-to-day noise. Celso Perez is a Staff Attorney at the ACLU Immigrants’ Rights Project (IRP). Earlier he served as a fellow at Human Rights Watch.
Celso Perez is an immigrant to the United States from the Dominican Republic. He identifies as a Catholic gay man.
He is a staff attorney at the ACLU Immigrants’ Rights Project (IRP). Earlier he was a private immigration attorney and a fellow at Human Rights Watch.
He is a graduate of Boston College and Yale Law School.
SHARED WISDOM:
WISDOM #1 Cultivate a regular contemplative practice.
It’s important to set aside time on a regular basis for a moment of reflection. Striving burns us out and we have to build a practice that gives ourselves an opportunity to avoid striving. We must recognize there is a long game ahead.
WISDOM #2 Hearing advice from elders is important even when we don't follow it
Listen carefully to your elders and think through what they share. This never means we must follow all they say, but we should value the experience and wisdom that they share and recognize it as a valuable perspective for understanding.
Until next time, take it slower than you think you should.