“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[…]