The Age of the Possible
"...the octopus

with her body-shaped mind
and her eight-arm embrace
of alien realities,
with her colorblind vision
sightful of polarized light
and her perpetually awestruck
lidless eye

can see


shades of blue we cannot conceive."...

In this hypnotic poem Maria Popova views the age of the A... posted on Jun 05 2022, 1,418 reads

The Moth: All These Wonders
"The Moth was founded in 1997 by the writer George Dawes Green -- its name comes from his memories of growing up in St. Simons Island, Ga., where neighbors would gather late at night on a friend's porch to tell stories and drink bourbon as moths flew in through the broken screens and circled the porch light. It has since grown into what its artistic director, Catherine Burns, calls "a modern story... posted on Jun 04 2022, 4,135 reads

Let the Sun Rise
We all have days when things don't go as smoothly as we'd hoped and we have to make peace with things as they are. Fortunately the sun rises again each morning for all of us and we get another chance to see what the day will bring, to try again and to meet each moment with hope and to practice the art of living. Rejection, fears, doubts and failure are simply part of the human condition. Acknowled... posted on Jun 03 2022, 2,223 reads

Grace Before Dinner
"As a cook, I am beside myself when I encounter even ten varieties of tomatoes at a farmers market. But to see such diversity among people was deeply moving; people from everywhere with great rough hands and fine, weathered faces. Five thousand farmers from 130 countries were gathering for the first time in history, creating an event called Terra Madre." From Orion magazine's archives comes this i... posted on Jun 02 2022, 1,913 reads

Suzanne Simard: Forests are Wired for Wisdom
"Suzanne Simard is the forest ecologist who has proven, beyond doubt, that trees communicate with each other that a forest is a single organism wired for wisdom and care. Simard found that the processes that make for a high-functioning forest mirror the maps of the human brain that were also just now drawing. All of this turns out to be catching up with intelligence long held in aboriginal scienc... posted on Jun 01 2022, 3,922 reads

For One Day of Freedom
""Even if life stops, love goes on." This quote of Bishop Steven Charleston's has never been more real to me than this year, which has seen the posthumous publication by ANTIBOOKCLUB of my husband Blyden B. Jackson Jr's final novel, 'For One Day of Freedom,' completed before his death in April of 2012. The publication of this novel, which was passed over by mainstream publishers when we tried unsu... posted on May 31 2022, 2,659 reads

Anna Breytenbach: The Animal Communicator
Anna Breytenbach is a professional interspecies communicator and the subject of a documentary titled, 'The Animal Communicator.' Breytenbach's lifework is dedicated to interspecies communication. Over the last couple of decades she has worked with baboons, great white sharks, big cats, and other creatures across multiple continents, astounding people with her capacity to connect with animals in al... posted on May 30 2022, 2,989 reads

They Still Draw Pictures
""They still draw pictures!" So wrote the editors of an influential collection of childrens art that was compiled in 1938 during the Spanish Civil War. Eighty years later, war continues to upend children's lives in Ukraine, Yemen and elsewhere. In January, UNICEF projected that 177 million children worldwide would require assistance due to war and political instability in 2022. This included 12 mi... posted on May 28 2022, 3,565 reads

Buddha of Oakland
When Dan Stevenson placed a stone Buddha across the street from his house in Oaklands Eastlake neighborhood, it was out of desperation.The corner had become an impromptu dump. City signs warning of punishment did nothing to change things. Dan asked himself if there might be another approach; something simple. He never imagined the positive energy chain that would ensue.... posted on May 27 2022, 3,533 reads

Painting with Mom
"My mother requires such presence, slowing down and attentiveness. Due to a very rare blood disorder, as we move her, we cannot let any part of her body bump into anything as it will create huge internal bruises that often do not stop bleeding. Additionally, due to a traumatic brain injury and subsequent mini strokes, her left side is now paralyzed and the right side is also very limited in streng... posted on May 26 2022, 3,445 reads