Music as a Teaching
I love music—who doesn’t?—yet it had never occurred to me that music itself could be a teaching, that it could bring people to the place, the experience, that spiritual teachers’ words point to, the transcendence that’s sometimes found in meditation (and often isn’t). But that’s exactly what one song did. As Martin Mull famously said, writing about…
Mindfulness and the MRI
Note: A friend expressed concern and mentioned that, in the U.S., people only have MRIs if something is seriously wrong. In Canada, MRI is sometimes used in place of other screening technologies; this was just a checkup. Ok, I admit, this is a bit of a departure from the whole nature and walking thing. Bear with…
There is Only One Teaching (Eckhart Tolle essay)
In 2013, Eckhart Tolle’s website put out a call for essays about how his teachings. I spent the next year writing and revising this essay, which was published on his site in January 2016. The page no longer exists, so I decided to share it here.
Freelance Feast (and Famine)
Every freelancer goes through feast or famine, but I have to say that I think I’ve hit some extremes on both ends. After two years of significant financial challenges, last year I earned twice the highest amount I’ve ever earned in a calendar year…thanks to a single contract. I imagine most people who picture having a dramatic increase in income would…
Thursday Tree Portrait 2016-Jan-01
Happy New Year! After weeks of rain, the first hints of spring are beginning to emerge on Vancouver Island. May this year blossom and unfurl for you in ways you can’t yet imagine.
The Requisite Year in Review Post
I’m not all that keen on New Year’s as a “fresh start,” since pretty much any moment is a fresh start. But there’s something about the collective energy of a fresh start (i.e., everyone else’s New Year’s posts), and also… I wrote about the challenging times last year, so now it’s time to write…
Thursday Tree Portrait 15-Dec-24
This is the photo that made me start seeing #AliensInArbutus (Arbutus is a type of tree that only grows in warm, temperate regions. Often windswept, and almost always gnarled, with sinewy green limbs and peeling orange bark, arbutus trees are works of art. And possibly home to otherworldly visitors.)
The Long Darkness of Winter
Confession: I’m not a huge fan of winter. I live in a temperate rainforest, which is gorgeous and lush and one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever seen on this planet. It also, by definition, requires abundant rain. Like, six months of rain. Yes, I know rain is healing, nourishing and all of that—and I…
Thursday Tree Portrait 15-Nov-26
Nature has a sense of organization, of patterns, that I’m not sure the human mind can understand.