Hummingbirds and the Ecstatic Moment
"Birds have been a part of my life for as long as I can remember, and hummingbirds have held a special place in my heart for the simple reason that they, early on, became personal to me. On some level, you could say I became a writer because of hummingbirds, and they have appeared in my fiction since I was very young." Jeff Vandermeer shares more in this lovely essay.... posted on Apr 08 2021, 5,022 reads

What is Time and Does it Always Move Forward?
"While we take for granted that time has a given direction, physicists don't: most natural laws are time reversible which means they would work just as well if time was defined as running backwards. So why does time always move forward? And will it always do so?"... posted on Apr 07 2021, 7,179 reads

Marina Keegan & the Opposite of Loneliness
Marina Keegan's posthumous writings are moving, sensible and funny. Her parents, with the help of her college professor, put them together to honor Keegan's loving, compassionate spirit after her tragic death. By doing so, they transformed their anger, sadness and grief into a force for positivity and forgiveness that will inspire you... posted on Apr 06 2021, 59,950 reads

Slowing Down
This meditative film brings us on a journey of slowing down so that we can understand the rhythms and the circles of life, in order to more fully connect with the big circle, "the slow breathing of the earth." It reminds us to slow the pace of our lives, even for a few minutes at a time, so that we are able to feed the person inside. The wise narrators charge us to be aware of the phases of the mo... posted on Apr 05 2021, 3,851 reads

The Only Real Antidote to Fear
"That in love and in life, freedom from fear -- like all species of freedom -- is only possible within the present moment has long been a core teaching of the most ancient Eastern spiritual and philosophical traditions. It is one of the most elemental truths of existence, and one of those most difficult to put into practice as we move through our daily human lives, so habitually inclined toward th... posted on Apr 04 2021, 7,520 reads

It Couldn't Be Clearer
"Interrelatedness is one of Brian Swimme's powers of the universe that I have been contemplating. I could have accompanied this particular exploration with any picture I have. Every flower, every leaf, every tree trunk, every mushroom is only here because of a web of relationships. With air, water, fungi, microbes, insects. With their fellow plants, the soil their roots penetrate, the beings growi... posted on Apr 03 2021, 5,293 reads

Poems from a Once-Upon-A-Time Inmate
Ra Avis's searing poetry was born from her experiences in incarceration, and her life as a returning citizen. She is an award-winning blogger, and author, who describes herself as,'a once-upon-a-time inmate, a reluctantly-optimistic widow, and a generational storyteller.' She shares two of her powerful poems here.... posted on Apr 02 2021, 5,881 reads

Ariel Burger: Beyond Words
"My best friend was going to art school, and I was very drawn to that path. But I chose not to follow it, because I wanted to find the all-encompassing discipline. I wouldn't have used those words then, but that was really what it was. I wanted to find the thing that would be the source for art, but also the source of being a person, and the source of meaning--and a response to mortality." Artist ... posted on Apr 01 2021, 2,278 reads

Picture a Face
"Your phone rings in the middle of the night. As you reach blindly to answer, do you fear that someone you love has been in an accident? Has suddenly died? For a time, early in my marriage to Jihong, such calls would often wake us. The phone was on Jihong's side of the bed. He'd lift the receiver to his ear and mumble a dazed hello. "Go back to Japan!" a loud male voice would yell, or something wo... posted on Mar 31 2021, 4,548 reads

Our Nervous Systems in the Time of COVID
"The light at the end of the COVID tunnel is tenuously appearing yet many of us feel as exhausted as at any time in the past year. Memory problems; short fuses; fractured productivity; sudden drops into despair. Were at once excited and unnerved by the prospect of life opening up again. Clinical psychologist Christine Runyan explains the physiological effects of a year of pandemic and social isol... posted on Mar 30 2021, 14,057 reads