writing : blog
I have written before about a weekend at the farm, my friend Gay's family place – magic, it is – in North Carolina. A weekend during which the rains of a hurricane bore down upon us, making me lie awake in my tiny twin bed wondering if the lake would overtake us, pots of grits floating by when we woke…
Read the rest…
Poppies The poppies send up their orange flares; swaying in the wind, their congregations are a levitation of bright dust, of thin and lacy leaves. There isn’t a place in this world that doesn’t sooner or later drown in the indigoes of darkness, but now, for a while, the roughage shines like a miracle as it floats…
Read the rest…
You need to sit still for five minutes and thirty seconds and listen to Eva Cassidy today. I know you think you don’t have five minutes and thirty seconds to spare, but you do. You do.
On this Memorial Day, remember.
A marvelous woman named Trudy from Canada came to our first Life is a Verb retreat last September. I loved her immediately. It is on her blog that I found this poem today. It spoke to me of what we don't say. And of the words we clumsily choose to approximate what we need to say. I Confess I stalked…
Read the rest…
My friend, Caren Knox, posted this on Facebook this morning. Here's the caption: President Barack Obama bends over so the son of a White House staff member can pat his head during a family visit to the Oval Office May 8, 2009. The youngster wanted to see if the President's haircut felt like his own. (Official White House Photo by…
Read the rest…
A month ago, I asked you to keep a young girl named Tori in your thoughts and prayers. It appears she was murdered the same day she was abducted. None of us deserves this solitary end, alone and scared. And least of all a young, defenseless child. A young scared girl. My heart breaks with this news. Just look at…
Read the rest…
Wow. What a fantastic ride it's been. Readers from around the world have asked me to come read from Life is a Verb. So far, I've been to 32 cities in the U.S., with more on the way! (Boston area folks, I'll be in Deerfield, New Hampshire on June 2nd – hope you can come!) Some of those cities are…
Read the rest…
After reading my 50@50 list, a woman named Carolynn Faulkner sent me a link to this video, saying "This may help you with #33 on your List of 50@50." Number 33? "Learn to stop making excuses." This did it. Thanks, Carolynn. 37days Make 10 Challenge: What would happen if you stopped yourself from making excuses? Just for one day. Just…
Read the rest…
See the thing is that if you want (or need) to be publicly shamed into actually doing what you said you'd do, best to tell everyone you know and don't yet know. That way, a few months into it, several dozen people can write you an email and say "whaddup? what's with the 50@50 you promised? how's that goin'?" Truthfully?…
Read the rest…
Patti Digh is the author of six books, including bestsellers Life is a Verb and Creative is a Verb. She travels the world teaching others about mindfulness: to live fully, love well, let go deeply, and make a difference. Patti's comments have appeared on PBS and in The New York Times, Fortune, the Wall Street Journal, the London Financial Times, and many other international publications. She writes a thank you note every morning.
