It is now 2:23 pm and this is my day. I got up this morning at 7:30 which is quite late for me. I often have obligations that require me to rise before 5:00 am.. I don’t even try to get too much done until at least half the other people in the house have [...]
Tiny Points of Color Making a Spectacular Picture
April 18, 2012 By Leave a Comment
I was talking to someone recently who is new to meditation, and she seemed a bit frustrated. She asked how long I’d been meditating, and after I told her, she sighed and looked a bit overwhelmed. I told her that I had given up on the whole enlightenment thing. I don’t know if I’d know [...]
Your Place at the Table
March 19, 2012 By 2 Comments
I have been reading the Facebook posts of a young woman I know. She has gradually been shifting her work focus from contract work in tech world, toward creating custom horse tack and other leather work. She grew up with horses, and they continue to be her focus. She’s putting a lot of energy into finding [...]
The Truth Is A Gift When Wrapped in Compassion
March 14, 2012 By Leave a Comment
On MPR the other morning I heard an analysis of a study that was done about doctors giving misinformation to their patients. The nature of this disinformation was in the masking of an unpleasant or negative prognosis that the doctor hid from his or her patient. This was not about optimism, or putting a sunnier [...]
Good Fences Make Good Neighbors
February 18, 2012 By 1 Comment
It’s so interesting how often the desire to be a person of kindness and compassion can seem to create as many problems as you’d think it would solve. I’ve noticed that I’ve been hearing a lot of anecdotes lately that have something to do with the struggle to create or maintain healthy boundaries: personal, physical, [...]
Your Headlights are Your Responsibility
January 16, 2012 By Leave a Comment
This morning I watched Naomi Tutu speak at the annual MLK Day breakfast in Minneapolis, and she told her favorite story about Dr. King. He was traveling from one engagement to another and was traveling by car at night. His brother-in-law was driving, and complained about how car after on-coming car failed to dim it’s [...]
New Year – Why Not?
January 1, 2012 By Leave a Comment
Happy New Year. I have always found myself in a quandary about this day on the calendar. Intellectually and instinctively I have always thought that too much was made out of this artificial distinction in the flow of time. At the same time, I can’t help but be caught up in the cultural mindset that [...]
Sacred Space, Sacred Moment
December 1, 2011 By 1 Comment
I was struck again recently, by the awesome responsibility and blessing that my work is. Having someone place themselves in my hands is an honor. I try not to take that trust too lightly. The word that came to mind to describe the work we do together is “sacred”, that my office is a place [...]
Personal Posting Guidelines: Frequency, Brevity, Impulsivity
November 27, 2011 By Leave a Comment
I originally kept my blog on Blogger, which generally worked very well. For a variety of reasons, both economic and practical, it now lives with my website. I still, however, get comments on old blog posts that people stumble across in the way that one does when cruising the wild open spaces of the internet. [...]
More Precept Talk: Lying
October 27, 2011 By Leave a Comment
I’ve been interspersing my blog entries with considerations of the various Buddhist precepts, or guidelines for “living like an enlightened being does naturally.” The next one I have decided to take on is the vow to not speak untruths – not to lie. In my previous posts on not killing and not taking what is [...]
