Meditation is hard. I’ve read books, had tapes, taken two classes on meditation. But being able to breathe deeply and not let thinking take over is difficult for me. My brain just likes to stay busy. I have practiced meditation sporadically for more than 30 years. But I never managed to make it a daily … read more How to do nothing
Tag: 1985
Kickin’ it
I didn’t know what to wear. Tina said exercise pants below the knee, a T-shirt, tennis shoes. I don’t have any exercise pants that aren’t shorts or full-length. I don’t have “tennis shoes,” only running shoes. My T-shirts are in storage boxes or else are abominable rags. After a lot of contemplation, I chose stretchy … read more Kickin’ it
Stone soup
It just about kills me to waste food. I grew up with Catholic guilt and “the starving children in Africa” clanging in my head – but the real pain comes from the thought of how much labor, non-renewable energy, and time went into producing that ear of corn or that chunk of tofu and delivering … read more Stone soup
German engineering
I own a very fine piece of German engineering that I really treasure. It’s not Xena the BMW (which belongs to Tom). Although, this object has some of the same strength, grace and power in its design that Xena does. It’s my meat grinder. It belonged to my mother, and I think she got it as … read more German engineering
The tugboat and the snowboarder
It’s just a messy pile of color – seven pieces of construction paper that I drew at random this morning and tossed on the board. What I saw in the pile was pleasant because of the colors. But no one would say it had beauty. I played. The triangles suggested mountains. First I did “A Stoplight … read more The tugboat and the snowboarder
Unanswered
Do you have any unanswered emails from friends laying around? I usually have 4, 5, 8 of them flagged and waiting in my inbox. Some of them don’t make it to my to-do list. Sometimes they go unanswered for months. It isn’t that I don’t want to communicate with them. Often these emails are from … read more Unanswered
Hallelujah!
Dec. 18: I struggled with the scissors. Moving them slowly back and forth across the green construction paper, I came up with a shape that lacked an identity. It resembled a fir tree only because I used pinking shears to give it a jagged edge. Then I tried to cut small circles out of red construction … read more Hallelujah!