S is for Short :: Significant
“For a long time it had seemed to me that life was about to begin – real life. But there was always some obstacle in the way. Something to be got through first, some unfinished business, time still to be served, a debt to be paid. Then life would begin. …
Remembering Katrina
It has been two years since Hurricane Katrina. Let’s replace "they" with "we" with "I"as we remember what happened there, and as we look for ways to help in the continuing recovery. As I looked back on what I was writing when the hurricane struck, here is what I found: …
R is for Rightness
"Grasping at things can only yield one of two results: Either the thing you are grasping at disappears, or you yourself disappear. It is only a matter of which occurs first." –Goenka Sometimes, people irritate me. This week has been one of those weeks. Actually, I’ve been irritated for the …
Q is for Quiddity
“For a long time I couldn’t make out what Aquinas meant. He uses a figurative word (a very unusual thing for him) but I have solved it. Claritas is quidditas… This is the moment which I call epiphany. First we recognise that the object is one integral thing, then we …
P is for Pentimento :: Palimpsest :: Paint :: Pen
“Old paint on a canvas, as it ages, sometimes becomes transparent. When that happens it is possible, in some pictures, to see the original lines: a tree will show through a woman’s dress, a child makes way for a dog, a large boat is no longer on an open sea. …
O is for Open
“To receive everything, one must open one’s hands and give.” -Taisen Deshimaru
N is for Normal
"Normal is getting dressed in clothes that you buy for work and driving through traffic in a car that you are still paying for–in order to get to the job you need to pay for the clothes and the car, and the house you leave vacant all day so you …
M is for Mother
No matter how complicated our relationships with our mothers turn out to be–and they are always complicated in some way at some time in our history together, aren’t they, even if we don’t know who our mothers were and are and particularly when we get too invested in our own …
L is for Little
“It takes courage to grow up and become who you really are.” -e.e. cummings Act I The CEO took charge of the retreat after lunch, pushing his staff into action teams to create a brochure, a potluck, and a video. I watched my business partner, David, from across the room, …
K is for Kooser
Today was a tough one. There are many K words that intrigue me, like kaleidoscope, all those pieces turning and turning in the widening gyre, bouncing light off of pebbles and shards of glass. Or keelhaul, or kraken (a personal favorite and who, pray tell, can forget the fabulous poem …
