So much matters—I sow seeds with my attitude, each gesture however small, tone of voice, the language I use in conversation and also my inner voice, my behavior. While what I do matters, it matters equally what I choose not to do. I’m always planting. You’re always planting.
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This Thanksgiving I’m feasting on friendship pie with homemade philosophy crust. I’m getting seconds of gratitude and another helping of empathy. I trust that our times will be less troubled and all our lives more lovingly connected.
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My new friend hadn’t yet read these lines from Leaving 1203: “Come, let’s dawdle. Swing with me. Stand still time. Tickle my fancy, North Star.”
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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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How will I live a life on ongoing "resurgence" and "revival?" How can we all rise together, again and again?
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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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I didn’t know what to expect on my first meeting with Student Council officers at Albemarle High School. What would they think of the chapter on Simplicity in How Philosophy Can Save Your Life? The new philosophers wholeheartedly embraced the concept of simplicity and had lots to say in our hour and twenty minutes together...
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On November 15, I returned to the Fluvanna Correctional Center for Women. I arrived having prepared a talk about Zen Buddhist theory and practice for the World Literature class. I departed with so much more.
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Aung San Suu Kyi, Burma’s 1991 Nobel Peace Prize winner, is featured in The Philosopher’s Table in my chapter entitled “Persistence and Grace.” Among the quotes from Suu Kyi that I reference: “I don’t give up trying to be a better person…a battle that will go on my whole life.” “In my life I have been showered with kindness…more than love, I value kindness.”
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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.
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finish line in sight / excitement for the future / keep pushing forward....
nine long trauma years / Kamala Harris rising / joy repairs our hearts