Ideas & such
It seems appropriate to offer thoughts by Father Louis (Thomas Merton) on Good Friday, especially when it speaks of the change of heart that lead to the peace the Christ told us about: And yet this tradition must always be a revolution because by its very nature it denies the values and standards to which…
It is estimated that Leroy “Satchel” Paige was born on July 7, 1906. The mere idea that his birthday is an estimate provides perfect evidence to the mystery that was Satchel Paige. In 1965, 60 years after Paige’s supposed birthday, he took the mound for the last time, throwing three shutout innings for the Kansas…
It is always wonderful when there is a story of wisdom making its sometimes slow but always sure way around the circle we live in…sometimes around the world. Here’s one from one of my favourite teachers, Master Thay: CLOSING A DOOR “With the energy of mindfulness, every action in our daily life can become pleasurable.…
Fans of The World According to Brother Ian know that we here at the editorial offices are huge fans of Derek Sivers, and the clear way he both puts things, and makes us think. See if this little essay of his strikes a chord – I know it does for me. Fixed Mindset vs Growth Mindset,…
It’s the dream we carry that something wondrous will happen that it must happen – time will open hearts will open doors will open mountains will open spring will gush forth from the ground that the dream itself will open that one morning we’ll quietly drift into a harbor we didn’t know was there by…
There’s my math teacher, so many years ago, noticing me make the same mistake on three straight exams: When will you ever learn? There’s my exasperated dad, showing me for tenth time how to not grind the clutch: When will you ever learn? There’s the fourth or fifth tough breakup, and the voice in my…
It’s simple, really. One of the reasons there are so many books in libraries & bookstore is that there are a LOT of ways to say things. One of the reasons we have a lot of songs is that there are a LOT of ways to tell stories of the heart. One of the…
You have been forced to enter empty time. The desire that drove you has relinquished. There is nothing else to do now but rest And patiently learn to receive the self You have forsaken for the race of days. At first your thinking will darken And sadness take over like listless weather. The flow of…
It actually doesn’t matter where you have been swimming, or where you’re going to, but it does better where you’re swimming right now. It is only when we identify what grows in this moment that we have the chance to live fully. Before & after – this leads to growth in our heads. Now –…
In the old days, one of the cool jobs I was lucky enough to fall into was teaching drama at a junior high. We had a great time. One of the things we did was improvise scenes. It was easy – we’d put two or three kids on the floor, give them a first line (something…
As the vibration of this planet continues to accelerate, we are being called to awaken our intuitive nature. We are starting to clearly see how our own perception itself creates our outer reality and our life experience. And as we are moving from the age of information towards the age of intuition we are outgrowing…
You have it. I have it. Most everyone you know has it. It feels almost impossible to escape it. No matter what we see or develop feelings about, it ends up coloured by our old thoughts, our old wounds, our old successes. Someone says, “Yay!” and we can’t echo the cheer, because we had a…
Couple of years ago, I ran into some visitors to Friday Harbor, around the time I was wrapping up living there for nearly twenty years, on San Juan Island. One was the nicest of people, and she said, “Isn’t it hard to live in such an isolated place?” In our follow-up, I discovered that she…
From my friend Carmen: Compassion is a far greater and nobler thing than pity. Pity has its roots in fear and carries a sense of arrogance and condescension, sometimes even a smug feeling of “I’m glad it’s not me.” As Stephen Levine says: “When your fear touches someone’s pain it becomes pity; when your love touches…
You & I learned this song ages ago, it seems, and it’s still a good one to start the day, to end kundalini yoga class, to wish on some good friend who’s leaving, or to sing with the kids before it’s time to dream. Written by Mike Heron and shared with yoga students all over…
I had an idea I wanted to share with you. It’s one of those things that I wanted to see what you think. This draws from my experience as an actor onstage, a newspaper editor, and an admirer of this rather famous bit from Marianne Williamson: Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our…
I don’t know if I’ve learned anything yet! I did learn how to have a happy home, but I consider myself fortunate in that regard because I could’ve rolled right by it. Everybody has a superficial side and a deep side, but this culture doesn’t place much value on depth — we don’t have shamans or…