Today is the 80th birthday of His Holiness the Dalai Lama of Tibet. I am honored to say that my article— What Do You Give To a Man Who Has Nothing? —has just been published on elephantjournal.com. ……………………… What Do You Give a Man Who Have Nothing? The Wall St. Journal had an article on […]
(Author’s Note, after the fact: I just counted 5 “fears”, 1 “fearless” and 5 “loves” in this post. You can’t have too much love, but 5 fears is crazy. This is not one of my better pieces.) I’ve been reading Buddhist beliefs lately, not in search of a new religion, but as a willing student […]
Yes, your mother (or grandmother) made it possible for you to have one less worry in your wild life. Your mother made it possible for you to hook up with your lover without the fear of pregnancy. Your mother made it possible for you to complete the joy of intimacy by making a physical connection […]
I confess that I am in the midst of a very long, ongoing love affair—with islands. Many islands. I have yielded to their temptation in many seas—some repeatedly—and each island has shared its unique characteristics abundantly and unabashedly. The most valued aspect of these island affairs is that they have taught me the principles of […]
Judge Not There was a man on the train platform. It doesn’t matter what race he was, or what age he was, or the color of his eyes. He approached me with calm determination and a vacant look. Me, in my traveler black with the silver suitcase and an American Express card in the zippered […]
Friday was a brilliant day at the water’s edge on Puget Sound. Sparkling water, blue skies with cotton candy clouds. A contagious atmosphere of summer celebration was in the air as toddlers splashed at the edge of the icy water and a handful of sailboats marked the horizon. A busload of school kids was picnicking […]
NOTE: I’m back! Whew. I had password trouble with this site on & off for months. *This is a post that I originally wrote and posted here TEN years ago! In retrospect, it still makes sense to me… even as I find myself 10 years closer to the end of the line that I spoke […]
When I moved to the Pacific Northwest last fall, I was unfamiliar with our King County noxious weeds, a group of plants quite different from the heat-loving weeds of the Ozarks from whence I traveled. As I became busy with the details of moving in, getting settled, and getting my life back on track, I […]
Every family has its secrets. I often sat with my paternal Polish grandmother- Babci- at the round oak table in her kitchen, under the watchful eyes of Jesus and his Apostles. (All good Catholics had a framed print of Leonardo da Vinci’s The Last Supper hanging in their kitchen or dining room.) We shared a […]
This morning, while cleaning my bathroom, I accidentally glanced at the mirror and realized that it was splattered with a Jackson Pollack spray of white toothpaste dots, which I then proceeded to wipe away. A seemingly normal task. Not so normal for me. I’m one of the many adults and children with a misinformed self-image […]
