Relational Neuroscience & Art: A Love Story
"I want to tell you a love story. It spans 20 years. A woman exploring tide pools was approached by a 24-legged sunflower sea star who came out of the sea grass, touching her shoe and exploring her pant leg. The woman fell in love with that beautiful creature, and it changed her life forever. The woman is me, an artist, psychotherapist, and student of Relational Neuroscience and Interpersonal Ne... posted on Sep 26 2023, 3,500 reads

Jeffrey Bale: The World Needs Beauty
"Jeffrey Bale received his degree in landscape architecture from the University of Oregon back in 1981. He quickly landed a job at a Portland architecture firm -- but he only lasted 20 minutes behind a desk. Instead, he began traveling the world, finding inspiration in the stunning architecture of Europe and SE Asia. He returned home and began creating elaborate and intricate pebble mosaics from s... posted on Sep 25 2023, 2,725 reads

Willing to Be Dazzled
"I decided to visit my friend Aristotle, who lives in a house on a hill at the west end of the ranch. We sampled various kinds of cookies and sipped decaffeinated green tea, and we vented, kvetched, and rhapsodized, as we are prone to do. Mostly kvetched, if the truth be told. Aristotle just turned ninety, and I seek the wisdom of an elder from him, but he is too modest to admit he has acquired an... posted on Sep 24 2023, 3,324 reads

3 Steps to Build Peace & Create Change
As the child of Holocaust survivors and a World War II refugee herself, peace builder Georgette Bennett was stunned by the human toll and tragedy of the Syrian civil war. She got to work, bringing together historical enemies to build an aid pipeline from Israel to Syria -- a feat many considered impossible, but she and her organization -- the Multi-faith Alliance for Syrian refugees -- has since h... posted on Sep 23 2023, 1,599 reads

Beyond Beauty: A Conversation with Paul Reynard
"My own experience is that there are moments when suddenly, after I've been working a long time at painting, I'm no longer trying to make or do something. I begin to be led, as if my brush were just following where the painting in its finished state was leading me. At that point I am open to something which most of the time I am unable to express, because I want to direct it. I want to make it mys... posted on Sep 22 2023, 1,364 reads

Hummingbirds & 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. How to make sense of life, especially during childhood? Sometimes, what moves yo... posted on Sep 20 2023, 935 reads

An Antidote to the Age of Anxiety
In his 1951 book, "The Wisdom of Insecurity: A Message for an Age of Anxiety," Alan Watts writes, "There is a contradiction in wanting to be perfectly secure in a universe whose very nature is momentariness and fluidity. But the contradiction lies a little deeper than the mere conflict between the desire for security and the fact of change. If I want to be secure, that is, protected from the flux ... posted on Sep 19 2023, 4,340 reads

Janet Adler: Into the Light
Janet Adler (1941-2023) is the founder of the Discipline of Authentic Movement, and the author of "Offering from the Conscious Body. A book that delves into the, "theory and practice of a unique body-based process that is cathartic, creative, healing, and mystical...This Western awareness practice encourages the individual to experience the evolving relationship with oneself, another, the collecti... posted on Sep 18 2023, 4,598 reads

Bone, Breath & Gesture: Practices of Embodiment
Edited by Don Hanlon Johnson, "Bone, Breath and Gesture," was first published in 1995. Alternating in-depth interviews, lectures and writings, its contents introduce and explore the principles and techniques of some of the most influential pioneers of bodywork and body awareness disciplines in the West-- among them, Ida Rolf, Moshe Feldenkrais, Marion Rosen, Thomas Hanna, F.M. Alexander, Bonnie Ba... posted on Sep 17 2023, 2,607 reads

To Converse Well
"Good conversation mixes opinions, feelings, facts and ideas in an improvisational exchange with one or more individuals in an atmosphere of goodwill. It inspires mutual insight, respect and, most of all, joy. It is a way of relaxing the mind, opening the heart and connecting, authentically, with others. To converse well is surprising, humanising and fun. Above is my definition of an activity cent... posted on Sep 16 2023, 1,975 reads