“What do you say? Because only in America can you survive a mass shooting and go and make a friend who is the victim of a mass shooting and then go to meet that friend for lunch … and end up in the middle of another mass shooting event.” Ashbey Beasley It's another fairly typical … Continue reading Another Monday in March: Take the Moments, Take the Opportunities
“Some people say that what I did changed the world. But really, I simply refused to accept what I was told about who I could be. And I was willing to make a fuss about it.” Judy Heumann Being Heumann: An Unrepentant Memoir of a Disability Rights Activist. If I have to feel thankful about an … Continue reading Judy Heumann: Willing to Make a Fuss
About 20 years ago, they decided to do something. The land was dead. Brown, used up, dusty and gray. But it once had been a forest. Not so very long ago, it was lush and green and home to lots of animals and birds. It had been magnificent, once. Sebastiao knew, because the land had … Continue reading Today someone’s sitting in the shade…because someone else planted a tree.
If you have ever watched a spider in the process of weaving, it's a masterclass in design and art. It's the constant making of decisions, alterations. It's cutting off pathways, reinforcing others, creating new ones. It's both creative and destructive. I was thinking of that this week when my husband and I wondered aloud how … Continue reading One Day I Met a Friend at the Lake and Changed My Whole Life
On a recent "walk-and-talk" with my son (who like many 10-year-old boys opens up more when we're engaged in some kind of activity) he described a game he'd created in his head. In it, people were here, but not really here – their physical bodies were on earth but their higher selves were transported to … Continue reading What if We Celebrated the Repair, Rather than Mourned the Break?
Yesterday was Presidents' Day. It's become a bit of tradition for my son and I to spend the month or two leading up to Presidents' Day reading about one president each day. It's a fascinating trip through American history for me, and hopefully, for him. I'm always struck by the stories of these people. Some … Continue reading A President A Day for Presidents’ Day
You could bury your head in the sand, or you could roll up your sleeves. ~Father Greg Boyle, founder, Homeboy Industries You know, I may not be able to carry what you're carrying, but we can carry you. ~Father Greg Boyle, founder, Homeboy Industries Greg Boyle, a newly-minted Jesuit priest, arrived in Boyle Heights in … Continue reading Roll Up Your Sleeves, and Give Hope
I think I like wildflowers best. They just grow wherever they want. No one has to plant them. And then their seeds blow in the wind and they find a new place to grow. ~Rebecca Donovan Wildflowers are the loveliest of all because they grow in uncultivated soil, in those hard, rugged places where no … Continue reading My Weedy Wild Flowers
The first time I saw the old tree, I felt sorry for it. Obviously once a hulking, massive specimen, now it's buckled and broken and bowed to the ground. If you can imagine a tree with a trunk so wide that it would take two (or more) people with arms outstretched to reach all the … Continue reading My Favorite Tree, and How It Reminds Me Of You
Last week, billionaires from around the world flew their sleek private jets to Davos – an Alpine town now synonymous with the annual gathering of the wealthiest of the wealthy. In fact, you might not even know that "Davos," as it is routinely called, is really the World Economic Forum's Annual Meeting. It is. And … Continue reading #DavosSafe, Living Like Billionaires
Small Deeds Done 