#35 – Don’t Take Yourself Too Seriously

David Byrne, with his performances of Once in a Lifetime and Toe Jam on Saturday Night Live, shows us how it’s done. (And, if the videos I’ve posted below don’t show up on your device, do a quick search…it’s worth it.) Cool + Fun + Talented + Fearless + Don’t Take Yourself Too Seriously =

#8 – Take a break

This is #8 in the series, “50 Ideas Worth Fighting For.” “Almost everything will work again if you unplug it for a few minutes, including you.” – Anne Lamott If you are reading this on Sunday afternoon, I hope it’s from an easy chair or the sofa. I hope you’ve just returned from a hike,

Poem for a Sunday Morning

Dear Darkening Ground {Rainer Maria Rilke} Dear darkening ground, you’ve  endured so patiently the walls we’ve built, perhaps you’ll give the cities one more hour and grant the churches and cloisters two. And those that labor-maybe you’ll let their work grip them another five hours – or seven before you become forest again, and widening

Some good, hard questions

Do I insist on action when more reflection is needed? Do I got lost in reflection when I need to get moving? Do I default to the comfort of my competence when the discomfort of connection is what the moment requires? Do I tend to think my way into a new way of feeling or

Towards Aliveness

“Sometimes it takes darkness and the sweet confinement of your aloneness to learn anything or anyone that does not bring you alive is too small for you.” – from “Sweet Darkness” by David Whyte Move towards aliveness. As best you can, keep moving towards it. Resist the pull to the middle, miles from the edge

Playful

“We have no empirical evidence that being more serious leads to greater insight into the human condition than being playful. There is, however, growing empirical evidence that being playful opens toward the ever-elusive, supple heart.” – John Paul Lederach There is only one thing I miss…that I truly miss…from going to work every day at

Labor Day

“Work isn’t to make money. You work to justify life” ~ Marc Chagall ~ When I was 17 years old I knew exactly what I wanted to do with the rest of my life. I just didn’t know that it was possible to apply what came naturally to me to a formal educational and professional pursuit. And

11 Reasons Why You Should Take a Walk in the Woods

I took a walk in the woods and came out taller than the trees. {Henry David Thoreau} I live in Southern California where a walk in the woods is a luxury enjoyed only after a long drive or, like I did recently, an airplane ride. My dream is to someday live where I can step

Learn to play, play to learn

Denise has been reacquainting herself with what it’s like to be a student. She’s started learning cello, taking two lessons a week. She loves the instrument as well as the chance to learn more about the student-teacher relationship. “As an adult you miss that sort of thing, a regular meeting with someone who’s helping you

Happy (just not enough)

Walt Disney created and invited us to the “happiest place on earth.” Do you think he believed that the place itself – the castle and the rides and the well-manicured grounds – was the source of that happiness? Or do you think that he delighted in providing a backdrop, a scene onto which we could