We are made up of 99.9% space and a tiny bit of matter. In the emptiness of that space is a vibrant quantum force that fuels the creation of particles that make up the on going creation of ourselves in every moment. Yet, we clutter our existence and our minds with busy schedules, agendas, post […]
Last week I went camping with my family. Although I had a wifi device with me, I listened to my body’s desire to disconnect. For five whole days I did not look at a small digital screen . I looked at trees, rivers, the dirt under my finger nails, the water boiling on the camp […]
Trust is a quality that I have been inviting into my life this year. I often think of a scene from the movie, Finding Nemo, where Marlin, the little clown fish who is in search of his lost son, finds himself, literally, in the belly of the whale. While he and his companion, Dory, are […]
On the aikido mat, when describing how to respond to an attack, our instructor reminded us that “center is the safest place.” Throughout the day we can get triggered by conversations, by email(!), by deadlines, by traffic, by our coworkers, our children, or our spouse. And suddenly we’re not our best selves. Most likely we […]
I sit in the garden with my cup of tea. What does my garden need of me? I sit, I listen. What do I hear? Maybe it’s not about weeding! Big surprise. When do you take a moment and put aside your to do list, close your eyes and ask, what does my day truly […]
Two stories of elephants came to me this week. One story is of Lawrence Anthony, the “elephant whisperer,” who dedicated a part of his life to the care and protection of formerly violent, rogue elephants. Mr. Anthony died earlier this year. And unexplainably, by modern standards, the elephants he rescued and rehabilitated, journeyed hours to […]
My good friend Jill and long time collaborator often asks, “What would be easy and pleasurable?” when she or we are engaging in a project. So this morning when faced with the question of doing the edits to my website myself or asking my web designer to do them for me, I heard the voice […]
On my way to morning meetings today I was listening to NPR on the radio, as I often do, and caught the last bit of news about Roman Totenberg, Nina Totenberg’s father. He passed away yesterday at the age of 101. He was a violin virtuoso from the age of 11. I was inspired to […]
When I first began to watch and learn Aikido, I thought Aikido was about waving my arms around. Now when I watch my teacher, Sensei, and other aikidoists, I notice that their arms follow and accentuate the movement that originates from their centers. Aikido, I’ve now learned, is actually not about arms waving but about […]
My father was a doodler. In the home where he grew up, I saw his doodles and cartoons etched in ink on the surfaces of his childhood desk and dresser. After hours, in the fancy French restaurant he owned, he huddled in conversation with his favorite dinner guests and doodled, not only on the back […]