Hand healed. Book completed. My hand and book are releasing together. Massage therapy and the writing craft: two peas in a pod.
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So, how could I best honor generations of lives lost on this Memorial Day 2018? Not having served in the military, how can I personally relate to this kind of service? Days removed from Memorial Monday, I realize that I must continue to fight for "liberty and justice for all." I must stay on "Active Duty" against forces that can destroy the United States from within. Bigotry, cruelty, greed, and self-serving ignorance are powerful foes. Unfortunately, every day offers opportunities to combat them.
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But it’s our conversation about the writing craft that really got their attention. What intriguing questions they had for the author! I hope my responses helped. I’m sure that our discussion enhanced my own writing process.
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What's the simplest piece of the many-sided problem of gun violence to address here and now? Outside Plato's Cave of confusion and darkness, what solutions present themselves?
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“Is your heart right? If your heart isn’t right, fix it up today” (The Autobiography of Martin Luther King, Jr.). That’s the big question along with a clear mandate. Take an honest look within. Fix what’s not good.
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For many years I’ve looked skyward with Maria, listening as she shares the magic of clouds. Her new book, A Sideways Look at Clouds, is an irresistible invitation into cloud land. Now you can walk with my cousin—your neck flexing, shoulders back, and eyes searching upward. Her book guides you through the sky, an opportunity to rediscover floating beauty every day.
Read MoreCertain thoughts stayed with me throughout the white supremacist rallying cries that began on Friday night at the University of Virginia. As I received texts on Saturday from a business owner at the scene of the counter-protest on the Downtown Mall, and received encouraging emails and calls from friends and family, I worked to come to grips with all of it. Deandre Harris lying bloody and beaten by poles in the hands of white supremacists—inside the parking garage I used two days ago
Read MoreMalala demonstrates that it’s possible to chip away at seemingly insurmountable problems. She embodies the empowerment that comes with forgiveness. She breaks entrenched stereotypes as a Muslim feminist. She refutes complacency through personal commitment and action. And she is one person.
Read MoreYour small white body wrapped around a huge heart, beating with a distinctive murmur, brings joy now just as it did when I first saw your puppy face. A surprise gift for my mother from me in 1999, independently we both picked you out of the litter. You had presence then—you have even more now. Here’s a few of the million things that I love about you.
Read MoreCausing deadly harm behind the wheel, careless adoption of rude behavior any and everywhere, discomfort with face-to-face conversation, mental distraction and lack of focus—the damage of cellphone nonsense continues to stun me. What I find at times more surprising, however, is the unwillingness of so many recipients of the rudeness to speak up. It’s not okay that your coffee date interrupts your conversation at every “ping.” By opting for for ongoing phone use, your passenger demonstrates what matters more. When your companion at the concert, picnic, or ballgame prefers phone use to your company, just say something. Of course, there are often good reasons to keep a phone on while with others or in public, and a quick explanation conveys awareness and respect.We all know the advantages of the phone—providing directions, making and receiving timely phone calls, ending worry with a quick update, sending a text to clarify, receiving confirmation via email, seeking a little or lot of help, etc. Why don’t we better understand the disadvantages of non-stop devotion? Perhaps it’s this addiction’s hold on us that’s at the root of the culture of “busyness.”
Read MoreAs class ended, students thanked me repeatedly for coming to visit them, making them “feel that we are not disasters forgotten by the world.” They promised to make sure that their professor gives me a copy of their magazine of collected writings and will sign their names so I don’t forget them. I’ll never forget them. Good teachers are hard to find.And I’ll be back.
Read MoreYes, a restorative sense of belonging comes along with service. Making a contribution always boosts the spirit. And now, with so many feeling helpless in the face of frightening political and societal events beyond our control, “just helping” has never been a better idea. Opportunities are endless— over here, over there, by the side of the loner, at the door of the caregiver, shoes going to Somalia and shelter for the Somalian refugee.
Read MoreInmates at the Fluvanna Correctional Center for Women can earn a two-year community college degree, beneficiaries of Doris Buffett’s incredible Sunshine Foundation. The week before our class, they read about Courage and Humanity from Little Big Minds. Their assignment was to be prepared with their own definitions of these concepts and with questions for me. They were so much more than prepared. They were amazing. Eager, respectful of each other and the professor and me, smart, honest, inquisitive, articulate, grateful for their educations, responsible for their lives past and future and focused on the present.
Read MoreIn her riveting voice, Angelou’s cadence captures this promise: “History, despite its wrenching pain / Cannot be unlived, but if faced / With courage, need not be lived again.” There we have it—the powerful motivation of the massive peaceful protests that inspired our country on January 21 and reverberated worldwide. “On the Pulse of Morning” once again serves as a summons to action, each of us newly wise to what can’t be undone but can be corrected.
Read MoreFor all the truths revealed by philosophical clear thinking and re-thinking, the necessity of gratitude for experiencing joy may well be the most important.
Read MoreI’m putting the campaign behind me, hopefully with at least a tincture of the grace and love of country shown by Secretary Clinton and President Obama in their speeches this morning. If she, the winner of the popular vote, asks us to do as she is and “accept the result and look to the future,” then I’m with her. If she believes on this of all mornings that “fighting for what’s right is always worth it,” then game on for me, too. I know she’s right—and that I can work harder for those marginalized by poverty, bigotry, and injustice. If her love of country and commitment to its improvement remain steadfast, who am I to give up and dream of Canadian sunsets? She's also correct that her loss is painful and will be for a long time. But heartsick and staying active and positive can co-exist.
Read MoreThank you to the Khan Family. You’ve shown the world a compelling generosity of spirit and redefined the meaning of patriotism. You’ve made the US look good and inspired many of its citizens toward active caring. Yes, we can remain positive and hopeful, reach higher and participate actively during election days—in our own lives, within the circumstances that every day brings.
Read MoreThe Cooper stone masons, oblivious of my pecking at the laptop, helped me immeasurably. Their painstaking precision with several levels positioned just so, pieces of slate cut exactly to complement its stone neighbors, a piece here and there ever-so-slightly shifted after careful observation from all angles—a writing workshop just for me! As the simple, beautiful patio took shape, the writer peeking out the window found her groove as well.
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Learn new dance moves. Clear the mind. Take a walk. Hold hands. Have faith in a new generation of leaders. Discover and support winning coalitions. Focus on efforts to reverse the deadend course ahead. light at tunnel’s end - night stars and morning glory - positivity