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Predicaments and Problems
My friend, Michael Dowd, (rest his soul) sent me a blog post by John Michael Greer, an author who writes on nature, culture, and the future of industrial society from a Druid perspective. Mr. Greer draws a compelling distinction between predicaments and problems. Predicaments, by definition, are not merely unpleasant situations. They are unpleasant situations … Read more
Read More3 A.M. Anxiety: Who Ya Gonna to Call?
I was awake at 3 am. My dog was anxious, whining. Maybe I tapped into his field. Or more likely he tapped into mine. My mind was whirling with everything that’s wrong in my life. Story after story, scenario after scenario, all reinforcing the “truth” that my life was teetering on a precipice. Everything, I … Read more
Read MoreJust Be Yourself
During a sacred plant ceremony I found myself on the receiving end of a temporary gift of clairvoyance, ( “clear seeing”). I was in a room with twenty-five others, sitting with an open, clear mind, listening to the beautiful suffering. Strange as this latter phrase might sound, it’s an apt description of the experience of being … Read more
Read MoreThe Watcher and the Witness
I came across the term “the watcher” reading the late and controversial, Buddhist monk, Chogyam Trungpa’s book, Cutting Through Spiritual Materialism. The watcher is the expression of self that learns, over decades of socialization, to watch what s/he says, watch how he acts, watch what he wears, watch his tone of voice, watch whether he … Read more
Read MoreSmile at Your Heart: Coming Back to Joy
Singer-songwriter, Lucinda Williams, sings a protest song about losing her joy in life: “You stole my joy, I want it back”. It’s a terrible thing to lose joy in life. It can erode gradually, even though there comes a definitive moment when we awaken to its absence in our life. Although it can feel sudden, typically … Read more
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