I want to be able to tell a story like this one. It’s simple and short, but it has such depth of spirit. In our culture it’s rare to think of death as beautiful; loss is framed for us as something inevitably tragic and to be avoided. And it’s true that the pain of loss is inevitable, but it’s not the only truth present. The fact of mortality makes love and life all the more precious, and something to be deeply savored. This video is one of the most beautiful I’ve seen all year, precisely because it walks the line between the love and pain that are present when a loved one dies. I cried all the way through, for his losses and for mine.
Happy birthday Mom, I still miss you (and I know you would have cried too).
A really good summation from Parker Palmer of how and why our political system is the way it is, from a soul-based perspective:
I’m currently reading Palmer’s A Hidden Wholeness right now, which could be described as a manual for dealing with this type of soul emptiness. Very interesting so far, especially for the essential Quaker-ness of his approach, which lures the soul out of hiding by creating a safe place for it to emerge both within the individual and within a trusted community. Thought-provoking stuff in a world where so many people are already undergoing wrenching transitions due to political upheavals, environmental issues, health problems, loss or change of jobs, etc.
Glenn Beck is a ChatBot? Great tongue-in-cheek piece about how the level of discourse and dog-whistling in right-wing media has descended to a level where it might be duplicable by a computer.
So adorable…it’s impossible to get anything productive done at home these days thanks to our new arrivals: We’re in the process of building a coop (they will be inside for a few months until they’re big enough), and in the meantime it’s Chicken TV all the time. Weekly updates at the YouTube channel as time [...]
I often get asked, when people find out I’m in grad school, what I plan to do with my degree. The truth is, I don’t exactly know; the degree itself is the artifact of a discovery process that I hope will point me in a new direction that’s still somewhat hazy. However, certain things are [...]
The Joseph Campbell Foundation has begun releasing audio lectures on iTunes—the first series replicates the content from the out-of-print CDs and tapes released by Highbridge, and there’ll be more series to follow. More info from the JCF website Signing up for a free Associate membership at the website also gives you access to transcripts and [...]
I’ve been considering the state of my imagination lately. It’s done pretty well over time, in spite of the various beatdowns of Western culture, but I’m always looking for places I can get fresh fuel. The websites below have been highly inspirational of late, so in case you find yourself in my boat. here are [...]