Your Eyes, 1 If I don’t hold your gaze, perhaps it is because you are so beautiful that I would weep for joy just to look into your eyes. That can make small talk awkward. Your Eyes, 2 If I hold your gaze perhaps it is because I want you to see your beauty reflected in my eyes And know … Read More
Telling the truth
The Leopard told me once “It’s hard work, being a Grandfather”. Years have gone by; more and more, I understand. The Leopard gave me courage – the years, clear sight. My duty now is to tell the truth. Some truth lifts, pleases, brings joy. Other truth stings, touches grief. I owe you both. Knowing that some will hurt, I owe … Read More
Greeting an Other-Self
If I were to tell you that there’s a quote at the bottom of this page from the Old Testament, would you immediately stop reading? What if I said it was from the star beings of Betelgeuse, channeled by someone in flowing purple robes and feather earrings? Carved on a wall in a temple beside the Nile? Written in the … Read More
Pass It On
What bit of real-life competency have you passed on lately? Whatever you know, give it back. If you know how to check the air pressure in a tire, show someone how to do that. If you know how to make an antivirus medicine from Oregon Grape root, take someone with you next time you go to collect the root. If … Read More
I have a son
I have a son. I’ve never played catch with him. I didn’t help him learn to ride a bicycle. I’ve never taken him fishing. I’ve never gotten on his case about getting better grades in school, or showed him how to change a tire, or talked to him about what it means to be a man. When he was just … Read More
Courage, leadership, commitment
Courage, leadership, and commitment. Three ideas that are sometimes difficult for me. Now and then I experience a pure and beautiful form of courage. That’s when I post stories like the one titled, ”I have a son.” Much of the time, though, I don’t feel courageous at all. I allow my fear of rejection, ridicule, or (worst of all) no … Read More
In Over Our Heads
We’re all in over our heads. Covid is a truly global pandemic, a completely new circumstance for humanity. It’s also an unprecedented opportunity to make decisions about the water we’re in more consciously than ever before. So let’s not think of drowning. Instead, let’s dive deep and really look into the water, to see what only becomes visible when we’re over … Read More
The Talking Circle
Picture a classroom of energized ten-year-olds who have just read My Side of the Mountain. It’s the imaginative and engaging tale of a boy who spends a year in the wilderness, learning survival as he deals with solitude, hardship, and his own coming of age. I had joined the class to to discuss some of the skills of living the boy in the … Read More
Time In The Ashes
It’s no surprise now, after more than a year of being in some form of community isolation, that we feel tensions rising from time to time. We have moments of being snippy, short tempered, or otherwise less than our best selves. Heck, this happens even without pandemics. This article is about a way to cope with being cooped. There’s a … Read More
The Girl at Middle Beach
It had been one of my best gigs. Five times every year for 20 years at a campground on the rugged west coast of Canada, I guided one-day programs with groups of students, leading them to engage with the beauty and richness of the life on the Pacific shore. Now it was time to move on, and I was feeling the sweet sorrow … Read More
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