writing : blog
"What I want is so simple I almost can't say it: elementary kindness." -Barbara Kingsolver, Animal Dreams We have opportunities for kindness every day. Every single day. A moment's hesitation to let a car enter the flow of traffic in front of us. An offer to carry a burden for someone – across the street or through life with them….
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Every Thursday, just a few links I've discovered, things I'm thinking about. And, of course, a link somewhere to you-know-who. (Where I can follow the serendipitous thread I followed to get there, I'll include a thanks to the person who surfaced it for me.) mind :: my brain and yours Malcolm Gladwell has a new book out and is talking…
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Otherwise -Jane Kenyon I got out of bed on two strong legs. It might have been otherwise. I ate cereal, sweet milk, ripe, flawless peach. It might have been otherwise. I took the dog uphill to the birch wood. All morning I did the work I love. At noon I lay down with my mate. It might have been otherwise….
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Last week, Tess decided that she wanted to buy lunch at school. She talked about it, worried about it (where to put her money, how to ask for the food, what they might have for lunch, how to make sure it was vegetarian, how to carry her money and the tray). SHE WAS TRIUMPHANT! And, of course, she started writing…
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Because of a last-minute cancellation due to illness, we've had one space open up in our November 5-8 Life is a Verb retreat near Asheville, North Carolina. Come, explore 63 acres of beautiful mountain farmland, experience morning meditation and yoga with our special guest instructor, eat food lovingly prepared on-site by a certifiable kitchen goddess, write and rest, and laugh…
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“Life can be found only in the present moment. The past is gone, the future is not yet here, and if we do not go back to ourselves in the present moment, we cannot be in touch with life.” -Thich Nhat Hanh I saw a bumper sticker like this one last Thursday, after an extraordinary session with my acupuncturist. I…
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I went to my acupuncturist on Thursday. Having reached the highest point of frustration possible with traditional medicine and medical "practices," it was time to go back to her for wisdom and caring and more than a 10-minute "audience" with someone too rushed to listen, the rest of the time relegated to a nurse feeding information between me and the…
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Print by artist Laura George.
When I studied abroad in Germany in 1981, we traveled for two weeks into a rainy, dark country called East Germany. The trips across the border were frightening, guards in long thick grey woolen jackets boarding the train heavily, then staring at your passport and then up at you for too long, before allowing you in. Or out. One guard…
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Every Thursday, just a few links I've discovered, things I'm thinking about. And, of course, a link somewhere to a certain movie star just because. (Where I can follow the serendipitous thread I followed to get there, I'll include a thanks to the person who surfaced it for me.) mind :: my brain and yours Doctors, patients, and mindfulness. (Thanks…
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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.
