All the true vows
are secret vows
the ones we speak out loud
are the ones we break.
There is only one life
you can call your own
and a thousand others
you can call by any name you want.
Hold to the truth you make
every day with your own body,
don’t turn your face away.
Hold to your own truth
at the center of the [...]
our sunday poem
compassion 101
As I continue to learn the practice of compassion (see yesterday’s post), I turn to an interview my former teacher Frank Ostaseski gave a while ago*:
“Compassion is entirely a mutually beneficial exchange. The only way in which I come to a place of compassion is by turning toward my own suffering. In doing that I [...]
running low
For how long can a man be in the company of Death before it begins to wear on him? I’ve been working at hospice for almost seven months now. During that time about 250 people have come to die in our care (with others having gone into home or long-term care). Add to that the many [...]
in a nutshell
“The real meditation is how you live your life.”
–Jon Kabat-Zinn, PhD, is credited with bringing “mindfulness meditation” into mainstream medicine. Click here to hear him talk on youtube.
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just a thought
News from REUTERS (excerpts): Baking, bartering, scouring consignment shops and waiting until the last minute for bigger bargains are strategies being used by recession-wary [people] who still want to give gifts this holiday season. “Handmade products are really going to replace a lot of spending,” said [a] retail industry analyst, [who] tells people to break out [...]
what i/we do at hospice (#2)
People who are suffering in the presence of death–who are afraid, scared, sad, helpless, and alone–regularly invite me to enter their private world. Some have questions, other are dumbfounded by what’s happening, while a few are resolved and even relieved. What can I possible offer them? How about deep listening, unhurried presence, and words from the heart.
When [...]
being touched
Researchers Lawrence E. Williams and John A. Bargh have been looking at the effect of physical distance on social judgement and their recent study builds on that work. “The basic scientific implication is about exploring the link between the physical world and the psychogical world,” said Williams, “it’s at the same time subtle and very [...]
our sunday poem (faintly autobiographical)
Out of the thousands
who are known,
or who want to be known
as poets,
maybe one or two
are genuine
and the rest are fakes,
hanging around the sacred precincts
trying to look like the real thing.
Needless to say
I am one of the fakes,
and this is my story.
“Thousands” by Leonard Cohen. In (2006). Book of longing.Toronto: McClelland & Stewart, p. 73.
mail from kathmandu
Katheryn and David travel in Asia for half the year to purchase textiles, jewellery, and handicrafts–and the other half to sell from their live-in van up and down the coast of British Columbia. Here are excerpts from their recent mail:
No more Royal Nepal Airlines. They were a joke anyway, with the king often commandeering one [...]
“it’s for your own good”
We held a co-workers’ farewell party this afternoon and my boss noticed my expertise at cake-cutting. Didn’t know about that talent, she said, smiling above the din of the gathering. Next thing I knew, I told her about having apprenticed as a chef in my early teens and having been abused—verbally and physically—each day for three [...]
on the road … again?
As I inquire into the meaning and purpose of recent accidents (see previous two blog posts), I’m beginnig to frame them as wake-up calls. Wake up and step into the unknown … once more.
What we sometimes call “the journey” implies a leaving, some travelling, and an arriving. But barely have we settled into what we [...]
be your own therapist
Over the years I’ve hired the skills of a therapist/counsellor on many occasions: in moments of panic/crisis when I hungered for clarity, also to seek help in sorting out some of life’s basic and less urgent questions. Like plumbers and dentists, some therapists I found to be intelligent, helpful, and creative–others restrained by set methods and narrow worldviews. Not always an instant [...]
nine lives?
What’s going on here? I’ve had some close calls over the last three weeks, two involving my bicycle and one a set of farmhouse stairs; and now this wild mushroom encounter (see post below). Someone trying to tell me something? If so, what is the lesson? I’m open to be taught. Something’s brewing in the mysterious, [...]
the perils of forest dwelling
Today’s and possibly tomorrow’s post will be delayed. My neighbour (who’s been my trusty sitting/meditation partner for four years) gave me a big fat mushroom on the weekend. I had no doubt of its credentials since my friend and her companion are respected island mycologists. Cook in an open frying pan with hot oil, she said, [...]
our sunday poem
by Adrienne Rich (American poet, b. 1929)
Either you will
go through this door
or you will not go through.
If you go through
there is always the risk
of remembering your name.
Things look at you doubly
and you must look back
and let them happen.
If you do not go through
it is possible
to live worthily
to maintain your attitudes
to hold your position
to die bravely
but [...]
