“There’s a certain wisdom that begins by knowing that, of course, you, like everyone else, are pretty difficult.” Alain de Botton As we glide away from this Valentine’s month, I want to take a fresh look at love. Don’t get me wrong. I love love. Love is at the center of my life and my work.[…]
Enjoy the little things in life because one day you’ll look back and realize they were the big things. –Kurt Vonnegut Jr. Thanksgiving is one day for giving thanks. But in these fraught times, one day is not enough. Many people are feeling pandemic fatigue, loneliness, itchiness to get back to some semblance of regular[…]
Paying Attention The mother of all the skills is to learn the art of paying attention. ― Mwanandeke Kindembo Scattered In this chaotic pandemic, politically charged, racially unjust, climate-unleashed world, paying attention is not easy. So many things compete for our attention. Something pops up on our phone, and we turn away from the person[…]
“No one ever told me that grief felt so like fear.” — C.S. Lewis Sadness This pandemic time has brought with it so many losses. They hurt and threaten to overwhelm: Loss of life – deaths of family members, friends, leaders, musicians, so many peoples’ loved ones Loss of jobs – and[…]
“The earth is but one country and mankind its citizens.” Baha’u’llah Connected We are connected to each other. Across neighborhoods, state lines, countries. We are connected to the coronavirus. The coronavirus loves us all equally and wants to get in our bodies and reproduce. We’re connected to the people who will take care of[…]
“What wisdom can you find that is greater than kindness?” Jean Jacques Rousseau In the 1930s my dad was a student at CoIlege of the Pacific. He and his fraternity brothers decided to put some research to the test. They’d heard plants were affected by how people talked to them: with kind, encouraging talk[…]
\ To pay attention, this is our endless and proper work. ― Mary Oliver It is easy NOT to pay attention. We know we’ve been inattentive when we arrive home and can’t remember the route we took, or we find our lost phone in the refrigerator. Something pops up on our phone, and we turn[…]
Birth and Death — A Christmas Story (This Fresh Views was first published 8 years ago. The baby described is now 8-year-old Fianna, a magical child.) “We understand death for the first time when he puts his hand upon one whom we love.” —Madame de Stael “Every child begins the world again.” —Henry David Thoreau[…]
“He had occasional flashes of silence that made his conversation delightful.” –Sydney Smith I have had an amazing parade of wonderful people visiting and staying with me for the past four months. I have loved it. The last visitor left today and it is very quiet. The silence is so delicious, I find myself[…]