True fairy-stories give “a fleeting glimpse of Joy, Joy beyond the walls of the world, poignant as grief.” JRR Tolkien

"Consider daily sitting practice to be a kind of spiritual food." That's a lovely thought. I like food. But what happens when I get hungry?

Perhaps I can truly hear the small things that I, personally, can do to help shift the balance from fear and hatred to love.

There was a whir of wings, a little flash of grey and white, and a tiny bird landed on the outer edge of the deck. We held our breaths.

There are deer, birds, foxes, wildflowers and more. But you have to look. Lawrence looks with eyes that see things others tend to pass by.

He touched the lives of millions around the world, faithfully scattering seeds of peace, compassion, mindfulness, non-violence, humor & joy.

Another song--it could be a modern psalm to the mysterious, the unfathomable, the achingly beautiful unknown. Tender beyond hope.

Don't discount those small kindnesses you offer to others. Tiny things can matter as much as big.

The essence of mindfulness. When I am here, I can feel my feet, feel my breath, feel my beating heart--notice in this moment that I am okay.

I didn't feel good there, but sometimes I felt a little less bad. A tiny shift, but it was a start.

I'll never forget the train ride home after Christmas that year, as every clack of the wheels pulled me further & further away from her.

Otherness is an odd--and cosmic--corollary to oneness. Otherness in a relationship can take many forms. There are big differences like...

"Her purring rose like a hymn to home above the noise of the Great Storm-Cat. Such music had not reached his ears since the dawn of time."

This strange mirror, this odd form of grace, though uncomfortable, has on occasion helped me see myself a lot more clearly.

I focus on my breath. I get distracted. Oops. Okay. And again. So many times that I feel like one of those toys on a string...

Something so beautiful & unusual that it follows you around for days, rising again & again from hidden stairways of your heart...

An absurd fantasy--I mentally roll my eyes when I read it. Yet when I decided to write about mindfulness this week that essay came to mind.

When I looked at that piece of paper the next morning I saw the following: true gifts, humility, self-confidence, grandiosity. Ohhhh...

Could this silent darkness be one of winter's gifts? Asking us to bow like the grasses, acknowledging our own bare and basic shape?

"Looks like we just gave ZZ Top a shave & crewcut!" said Celia. We looked at the huge and tangled heaps of grape vines we'd just pruned off.