The Open Road: The Global Journey of the Fourteenth Dalai Lama, by Pico Iyer, is not a biography. It’s not a treatise on Tibetan Buddhism or an examination of the political situation of Tibet as a nation. Pico Iyer is a travel writer, so true to the … [Read more...]
Noticing
This morning, I deleted Twitter and Facebook from everywhere but my computer. Off of my phone that goes with me everywhere. Off my iPad, which I check every time I walk by where it usually sits on a table in the kitchen. I have pushed myself back … [Read more...]
Full fathom five thy father lies
Day Three of National Poetry Month--why not Shakespeare? There's something about the last stanza of this song from The Tempest that sticks with me. I don't know why. Can't imagine the first time I heard it. In my head, this is the only part of … [Read more...]
On turning 41
I turned 41 yesterday and it was a good day. No, I didn't turn 25 again. I'm not stuck at 30. If you ask me how old I am, I'll generally tell you. I don't think that's a rude question. I'm 41 and pretty happy about it. Forty-one is well past the … [Read more...]
Beautiful things
Because I have a device now that tells me how many steps I've taken each day, I'm motivated to take the long way from my car to my office in the morning. The added benefit is that I see some beautiful things along the way. May everyone be so lucky. … [Read more...]
Reduction
This morning I decided to make roasted tomato paste out of the tomatoes from our garden. I started first thing in the morning. My mom always tries to get her canning done early in the morning, when it's still cool, because the oven heats up the … [Read more...]
How to make black bean pizza
One of my family’s favorite meals is homemade pizza–a black bean pizza. I make the dough in the bread machine and it takes an hour and fifty minutes. I used to put the ingredients in at any old time of the day. The dough can sit in the bread machine … [Read more...]
My phone is silent
This week I turned off the Gmail notification on my phone. The only sound it will be making now is when someone calls or texts me. The rest of the time, my phone will be silent. My Gmail account is the one I use for my writing life. When I was … [Read more...]
Driving the speed limit
Today I picked up my book of daily yoga and read, “Today, drive the speed limit.” That was all. It wasn’t very profound compared to other days when I’ve contemplated gratefulness or stated out loud my intention for the day or cultivated my inner … [Read more...]
Some amazing things
Last week I wrote a post about the amazing thing that happens every day. People seemed to like it. I decided to start writing down the amazing things that happened to me every day. There’s almost always more than one. It occurred to me that I might … [Read more...]