I had a memory that wouldn’t let me go; or maybe I just didn’t know how to let go of the memory. It doesn’t really matter which of those is true, or where the balance lies. The incident happened when I was seven years old, and it was emotionally and physically traumatic. I had used various means of healing for … Read More
Nourishing the Garden of My Self
The soil in my vegetable garden needs time to recover between cycles of growth, to rest and regain its nutrition so new plants can grow strong and healthy. To be at its best, it needs good compost added from time to time. If I only ever extracted the nutrition by planting one crop after another, adding no compost or anything … Read More
Take the Steps You Can See
I was a free range kid. When I was four years old, my father bought a piece of raw land on a small wild lake in Ontario. To my young eyes, and my young feet, it was a long way from the end of the road to that piece of land. As I helped to create a trail through the … Read More
The Black Dot
How do you get your life back when you look ahead and see only darkness: a problem, a challenge, or pain that dominates your attention and drains your energy? No clarity, no solution, no way out or even forward. Even when you’re not thinking about it, it’s there in the shadows, waiting for a gap in your attention so it … Read More
The Outer Courtyard of the Spiritual Heart
It’s where you find self-acceptance. From time to time I become aware that I am in an unloving place within myself. This shows up as judgment of others, usually of what they do or do not do. Sometimes it is about their appearance. I’m not proud of that. I don’t like to admit it. And I have learned to face … Read More
Grief as a Falling Tree
Have you been in a quiet forest when a dead tree falls? It does indeed make a sound. If you’re nearby, that sound can be quite impressive. It starts with a couple of loud cracks a few moments apart, then builds with more and faster loud bangs, the snaps of breaking branches, the crashing noises of branches and leaves against … Read More
Tending the garden of your self
Imagine that you are a garden, being tended by yourself. What kinds of soil preparation do you need to do? Is there a need for you to turn over some new soil through new experience, to dig and soften the soil of yourself with rest and nutrition, or to prepare yourself through being physically fit for growing good things within … Read More
Square House Blues
I wrote this a number of years ago, expressing a yearning I’d felt for a long time. Twice since then I’ve lived this life for a time, except that I’ve never neighboured anyone who kept bees. I did that myself. I’ve shown the chording I used, as a novice guitar player; feel free to use your own. Square House Blues – … Read More
Two small poems
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
If he can do that…
A few years ago I saw a video of a man who lived by himself on a lake in Alaska, in a cabin he had built from the trees he found there. It was small, with basic furnishings he had made and a well-designed kitchen. He had two dogs and a small herd of goats. In the opening scene he … Read More