Miscellaneous
Olympic peace
Wasn’t the opening ceremony of the London 2012 Olympics stunning? I loved what Danny Boyle conceived and realized. Particularly, I loved that peace got not one, but two mentions. One was evidenced by the photograph above. The other was created to seem like human replicas of the original Read More...
The discernment dance
When we follow that which excites and challenges us, an internal spark fuels us in our endeavors, and we’re able to step into our vision. By Antonia Hall “I just don’t have your discipline,” my girlfriend told me. But she does have it within her. I suspect she’s just lost the Read More...
‘Pioneers of the Possible’: Profiles of 20 extraordinary women
By Rosie Spinks from ecosalon.com When Iranian American author Angella Nazarian was growing up in pre-revolutionary Iran, she didn’t have many female role models outside of her immediate family. “I came from a very traditional culture which was very patriarchal. [At age 11] when I first Read More...
Surprise Ahead
As you may know, I’m the director of the Puget Sound Community School (PSCS) in Seattle. Part of my duties include some occasional teaching, or what we call ‘facilitating’ at PSCS, of classes. A recent one included me having the students read Annie Dillard’s book Pilgrim at Tinker Creek. Read More...
A Harvest of Peace
I read an American proverb the other day that got me thinking. “A harvest of peace is produced from a seed of contentment.” I think this is true. Sow contentment seeds and you definitely stand a chance of reaping peace. But then I got to thinking a little more deeply about this adage. Read More...
Nurture, Nurture, Nurture
Near as I can tell life on planet Earth is mostly about taking care. Taking care of our families. Taking care of our friends. Taking care of the work that we take responsibility for. Taking care of our homes, taking care of our possessions, our animals, our gardens, our plants, our cars, our Read More...
Art in Afghanistan: You Can Help
When we hear someone talk about Afghanistan, the conversation is often peppered with words like “war.” “conflict,” and “tragedy.” But there is another world in Afghanistan, one of every day life. Afghanistan as Afghans live it. This fall, Mountain2Mountain, a non-profit that develops Read More...
Perfect Day: Music as a Mode of Travel
September 2, 2009 was a perfect day. And by some miracle, I found a way to share it with you. That day I was on a songwriting retreat at a tiny, beloved island in the border waters of Minnesota and Ontario. The days are long there. I awaken before dawn and slip into the cool, still water before Read More...
That Pain in Your Political Gut? It’s Telling You Something
(Read this Article to Survive the Convention Season and Feel Better About Politics) Lucky us. Florida is the birthplace for what passes for political discourse these days. Yep, the Sunshine State is where the modern political era got its start. So you may think I’m crazy for predicting that a Read More...
Where Do You Find Meaning?
In an online kindness class I facilitated not too long ago, I asked this question of the participants: Where do you find meaning? I gave them a little exercise to help, too, which was to choose a relatively small, personal object and place it somewhere so they’d encounter it each morning. I asked Read More...