May this poem wrap you in a cloak of compassionate warmth. May it help you recollect the loveliness of all life. Especially in these times. Amen. The bud stands for all things, even for those things that don’t flower, for everything flowers, from within, of self-blessing; though sometimes it [...]
Dedicated James Baldwin on the 94th anniversary of his birth, with gratitude for the way he challenged and changed the perspective of so many of us. Someone asked me recently, “Who’s one person, living or dead, you’d love to share a meal with?” I immediately replied, "James Baldwin." Baldwin opened my mind to dimensions of experience [...]
A stunning tribute to Stephen Hawking (1942 - 2014), who understood the universe itself is poetry. Howe's heart-felt poem is full of ache and wonder and celebration of our shared reality. Do you sometimes want to wake up to the singularity we once were? so compact nobody needed a bed, or food or money — [...]
A mind untethered from the incessant "gotta-do" list and "need ta have" mentality perceives with clarity and aliveness. Actor Jeremy Irons speaks to this perennial wisdom in a very short video, a mere 2:18 minutes (link below). If we want to free ourselves from the ravages of uber-manic modern living, daily quietude [...]
Sanctuaries of Silence, 7:19: Gotps://www.nytimes.com/video/opinion/100000005811102/sanctuaries-of-silence.html Sanctuaries of Silence, an award-winning documentary, is an "immersive listening journey into one of the quietest places in North America," the Hoh Rainforest in Olympic National Park. Acoustic geologist Gordon Hempton refers to silence as the absence of noise from modern life. This silence, he says, "...isn’t the absence of something [...]
The wee Luckster has actually always known his true nature, while I, on the other hand, have needed help. Read on. I could not lie anymore so I started to call my dog “God.” First he looked confused, then he started smiling, then he even danced. I kept at it: now he doesn’t even bite. [...]
On April 20th, a friend and I helped put our beloved friend, Roxy, to rest. Five years of joy, a few months of decline. Not too bad. Roxy was a good girl, a goofball, a gentle 75 pound being. So many people responded with compassion, adding they were sorry for my loss. I bless them [...]
A blessing: May we be released from the cog of repetition, busyness, and familiarity. May we sing ourselves and one another awake. Now. This is what was bequeathed us: This earth the beloved left And, leaving, Left to us. No other world But this one: Willows and the river And the factory With its [...]
This “child’s prayer,” an invocation for attentive presence, is an invitation to bow and sow seeds of empathy and wonder, whatever one’s age. In the name of the daybreak and the eyelids of morning and the wayfaring moon and the night when it departs, I swear I will not dishonor my soul with hatred, but [...]
This cartoon requires no commentary, right? I get it, you get it. Such simple images, with or even without the title, are so clear, no treatise is required. Still, there is something I want to say: exquisite attention by the funny looking man is implied in the drawing. To what extent do you meet life [...]