The Gift of Ecological Humility
"In my early 20s, I apprenticed myself to the The Queen Mothers of Kroboland in Ghana with the hope of understanding more about my cultural heritage. Early one morning, I arrived at the compound of Paramount Queen Mother Manye Nartike, who was particularly animated by a rumor she had heard about our diasporic practices in relation to land. In disbelief she admonished me, 'Is it true that in the Un... posted on Feb 23 2021, 5,233 reads

Discovering Poetry En Route to Life
"Poetry, my father quoted it frequently, my grandmother collected it in scrapbooks --cards from friends, I memorized snatches of it in school. Poetry really came to me as a young father when my family and I needed to move across the country away from our best friends. It was an unsettled, lonely. time and I started taking walks in the evening to relax. It was spring. Lemon blossoms. Amazingly, ... posted on Feb 22 2021, 5,063 reads

This Land Was Made
"The soil of this land has been altered--altared--by blood, sweat, and tears falling from black and brown bodies. Even when I am not aware of this, I am aware of this. How many ways can we read the refrain, "This land was made for you and me" ? How was this land made? Who was made to do the making? Who is the you? Who is the me?" Poet Ama Codjoe shares more in this powerful essay.... posted on Feb 21 2021, 3,632 reads

A Meditation on Grief
"Grief is one of the hearts natural responses to loss. When we grieve we allow ourselves to feel the truth of our pain, the measure of betrayal or tragedy in our life. By our willingness to mourn, we slowly acknowledge, integrate, and accept the truth of our losses. Sometimes the best way to let go is to grieve." Jack Kornfield shares more here.... posted on Feb 20 2021, 14,752 reads

The Reverence Movement
Growing up the youngest of 10 siblings in a Watts, Los Angeles housing project, and a member of the famed Crips gang, Aqeela Sherrills witnessed from the inside the pain and devastation of the countrys most violent urban street gang war, which would proceed to claim 30,000 lives between 1983-2003. By 1992, he and his brother and a few other key community players had brokered a historic peace agree... posted on Feb 19 2021, 6,361 reads

Barrio De Paz: Peace Town
"Everything in society tells us to distrust others. I think it's the other way around. We need to profoundly trust in those around us, in their potential and in who they are," the grandmotherly Nelsa Curbelo Cora says. In 1999, she walked into the violence infested city of Guayaquil, Ecuador to BE peace. Through her grassroots work, many of Guayaquil's most dangerous gangs have disarmed, agreed to... posted on Feb 18 2021, 2,185 reads

Wintering: The Power of Rest and Retreat in Difficult Times
"Wintering is a season in the cold. It is a fallow period in life when you're cut off from the world, feeing rejected, sidelined, blocked from progress, or cast into the role of an outsider. Perhaps it results from an illness or life event such as bereavement or the birth of a child; perhaps it comes from a humiliation or failure. Perhaps you're in a period of transition and have temporarily falle... posted on Feb 17 2021, 12,007 reads

My Vision Quest
"I must begin by asking myself, 'What do I want?' What do I want, really -- not because of my background and education, self-image and vanity, but what does this 'I' that I am actually want from this short life? Indeed. What, or who am I? And what for? That stops me. And I begin, in silence, to listen - to look up to what I can see and know about the great Universe..."Jim George was a celebrated C... posted on Feb 16 2021, 3,603 reads

Click Here for Unconditional Love
On Sue Cochrane's website is a button that says "Click Here for Unconditional Love"- it leads to a selection of writings that offer exactly that. It isn't just the words of Sue's stories that touch the reader, but the wordless energy behind them. Sue Cochrane survived a traumatic childhood to become a pioneering family court judge. Throughout her career she strived to put the heart back into the b... posted on Feb 15 2021, 0 reads

Emily's Affirmations: A Valentine's Day Gift to Self
"The invitation from a friend was simple: take a picture each day of something that brings you joy. The intention was harder: bring a little light into a year of profound tumult, and isolation. In the summer of 2020, I like many was starting to feel the unraveling of time--my calendar no longer punctuated by social gatherings and grocery shopping, casual exchanges and well-worn routines. The unsch... posted on Feb 14 2021, 7,361 reads