Things that Fall from the Sky

“If you have time to stop for a minute, I’ve got something to show you back at the bus,” my new friend Peter says.  “Something that fell from the sky.” “Is it bigger than a breadbox?” I ask. His blue eyes spark as his usually stone-still face lifts with the hint of a smile. “Yep,” he says, “bigger than a breadbox.” We are sitting across from one another in a red vinyl… Read More

10,589 Miles Later

Here are some things I have come to know: The land of the United States remains vast and more beautiful than any imagining.  The people of the United States remain more capable of wisdom, kindness and cooperation than our media and leadership lead us to believe. GPS systems can get you almost anywhere – sometimes by incessant nagging, sometime with astonishing grace. I hear there may be an annoyingly breathy replacement coming… Read More

Better Than You Believe

Better than you believe; stronger than you seem. Carol Ackerman “What we know is that the more people affiliate with other people, the more their sources of positive experiences and possibilities for energizing and purposeful activity in the world.” This is my best shot at something my mentor, Jane Conoley said to me yesterday morning.  We were sitting in her living room, the Sunday morning light breathing itself across the bamboo floors,… Read More

What am I Doing Here? OCCUPYING CHANGE.

Here we are.  In crisis.  Together. The truth of the oft cited Chinese logograph for crisis is that it holds two characters, one connoting danger and the other signifying a point of uncertainty, a critical moment, a point of profound and unsettling change.  This is vastly more realistic than the more New Age rendition that misattributes the notion of opportunity to the second character. We are in crisis.  These years are more… Read More