what savoir faire

May 7, 2010

a joiku for the squirrel who’s been living just above my windowsill since he was a young one old friend squirrel I reach for my water glass you barely blink an eye

Read the rest →

a four hundred dollar bowl of soup

May 5, 2010

At this very moment I’m full of arugula, and tomato basil soup, and the awesome feeling of being an aliveness sitting here breathing. My death is present here too.  It invites me to give what I can give at the moment.  Tonight what I could give was a note to the chef who made that [...]

Read the rest →

with each breath

May 3, 2010

The feelings of those who are caregivers to the dying can be challenging.  It’s important to have ways of working with these feelings and moving beyond them, rather than ignoring them.  When the feelings are dealt with, it liberates energy for coping with the situation, and evens out the ups and downs of daily life. [...]

Read the rest →

tao te ching posts now have a blog to themselves

April 28, 2010

I decided to give the tao project a blog home of its own.  If you’d like to keep reading my Tao Te Ching posts you can find them at nu.umin.us/tao There’s already one up about chapter 2.  And, I’ve added a translation of the text after each chapter. I’m having a lot of fun with [...]

Read the rest →

when words fail: quality of life at the end of life

April 20, 2010

As most of you know, my mother is somewhere in the process of dying.   When I first accepted medical power of attorney for her, we talked about how she would want me to make decisions for her. She wanted me to first consider her comfort and quality of life.  For her, quality of life [...]

Read the rest →

on knowing (and not knowing) our path

April 16, 2010

some thoughts about chapter 1 of the Tao Te Ching So what is tao anyway? Well… we both can and can’t say what it is.  Because among other things, tao is where we are, who we are, and where we’re going. It’s about our path. And at the same time as we know that path… [...]

Read the rest →

we’re going on a bear hunt!

April 16, 2010

Charley Forness and I have decided to take a journey together along a very interesting path: the path of Tao. Charley decided last Sunday to start reading the Tao Te Ching one chapter a week, and to post his reflections on his blog.  I read his first post and promptly said ‘can I come too?’  –Because I’d long thought [...]

Read the rest →

you’re still brilliant

April 13, 2010

a joiku for my mother… Yes, you are brilliant. It’s not your mind that’s brilliant now, But your eyes, so direct.

Read the rest →

joiku: sketching the essence of our loved ones

April 13, 2010

I just made up a new poem form! Basically, the joiku form is a way of vividly remembering our loved ones. I called it joiku because it crosses haiku with the Sami art of joiking (also spelled ‘yoiking’). From haiku it takes the three line form with a roughly 5-7-5 syllable count.  It also borrows the [...]

Read the rest →

and I rise

March 24, 2010

This morning it’s raining.  It’s a gentle day: the rain is gentle, as is the slight cool of the air. A walk in the rain might have been nice, but I was drawn towards sitting meditation instead.  I’ve been moving at a steady clip all week. My body in its wisdom knew that a deliberate [...]

Read the rest →

← Previous Entries

Next Entries →