Ideas & such
This is one of those “made my day” stories that crossed the brothers’ and sisters’ desks, and we agreed you would probably dig it, especially at the end. Thanks for a good one, Douglas! Here’s the post, from Slate.com.
There are a lot of “supposed to’s” in daily modern life, don’t you think? It’s “supposed to” rain tomorrow, according to the rain-boss or someone, who reports to the weather channel folks…. You’re “supposed to” wear a tie to a wedding, according to the Tie Manufacturers of North America. On Mother’s Day, you’re “supposed to”…
You’ll remember a few months ago, I shared with you the story of the shirtless dancer, the lone nut, who gains a first follower, who turns them into a leader (here’s the posting, with Derek Sivers.) It’s true…every leader needs a first follower. Without him or her, the movement gets stuck, immobile, paralyzed. I got…
There’s something waiting. That’s why it takes a moment to gather the pen & paper, to open the blank but expectant email page, to take the moment. We try to get it write & get it right & get it, right? You’ve had the words rolling ’round in your head, driven by your heart, and…
I love the dark hours of my being. My mind deepens into them. There I can find, as in old letters, the days of my life, already lived, and held like a legend, and understood. Then the knowing comes: I can open to another life that’s wide and timeless. So I am sometimes like a…
This is from ‘The Parent’s Tao Te Ching’ by William Martin:
One of my favourite writers is intuitive Rachelle Hill, who posts on her blog regular thoughts that one way or another, stick with me. This posting seems just right, for the spring: Chrysalis A caterpillar doesn’t necessarily know she is walking into a time of stagnation and darkness, but it is a process that enables…
As regular readers of the World According to Brother Ian, you know that I believe that the number to aim for (if you ARE aiming) is 12…how can you get the day taken care of, when you are hug-deficient? Sure, monks live simply & fast at times & do without, but to go without your…
We drink it. And we make it poison. There’s a better way. In the same spirit, this little bit from Erin Brockovich has always dug deep with me. If the people that poison our well would also drink that water, things would change. Until that change, it’s easy – they’re killing our brothers & sisters.…
Heard this story the other day…rings true: Once a group of 500 people were attending a seminar. Suddenly the speaker stopped and decided to do a group activity. He started giving each person a balloon. Each person was then asked to write their name on it using a marker pen. Then all the balloons were…
Carolyn Baker writes (in these remarks of hers, shared by Andrew Harvey): The innumerable losses of industrial civilization’s collapse will, over time, bring forth a new story and a new relationship with people, resources, things, and the earth. It will necessitate living as if our very breath is a gift and every person in our…
One of the more difficult things to do is to surround oneself with positive folk…and that often involves the positive & light-filled move of sticking up for ourselves. I like the way Hay House author & angel therapy expert Doreen Virtue speaks to this… The following is an excerpt from Doreen’s new book, Assertiveness for…
The drug store on the corner just changed owners & its name. I was glad to see they kept most of the workers from before the change. Really needed some shampoo. Went & asked the woman who was stocking the shelves (who I believe has the biggest smile in the place )where it was, now.…
The great fun of traveling is to see things differently, ’round the edges of our path, and sometimes to bring those differences into our own lives. Those changes may be welcomed by our companions, or questioned, or downright rejected. This leads to a new set of challenges, which offer a chance to see it all,…
About three months ago, drawing on wisdom passed down to me through a bunch of lifetimes & teachers & events, I posted “The Ten Most Important Things.” The list itself came to me in a vision, and is recorded here in the order & words as they were presented to me, for you. Have you…
As luck would have it (and all monks know they are lucky – why else would we win so often, with each roll of the dice?), I grew up in Montgomery, Alabama, in the Southeastern United States in the time of Dr. King. Those marches & changes & speeches & rallies & protests all happened…
Over the past month or so, one of the stories that keeps playing in my head is this: The “news” keeps us from knowing what’s going on. You know it’s true: We have friends to feed in parts of the world, and in parts of the towns we live in (wherever we live!) who need…