A Mindful Life

The worst illness today is not leprosy or tuberculosis, but the sense of being unwanted, of not being loved, of being abandoned by all.
–Mother Teresa, Heart of Joy (1987)

Rejection hurts. Even ones that seem little. When I wrote The Hestia Chronicles, the personal blog that was associated with my public name, I was listed on The Ageless Project. This a site that lists blogs with the goal of displaying the array of ageless diversity on the Web.
In October [...]

Writing is not an amusing occupation. It is a combination of ditch-digging, mountain-climbing, treadmill and childbirth. Writing may be interesting, absorbing, exhilerating, racking, relieving. But amusing? Never!
–Edna Ferber, A Peculiar Treasure (1939)

This is an excerpt from fascinating article on writing and its origins within the brain from Writing Like Crazy: a Word on the Brain by Alice Weaver Flaherty. It explores the biological and social factors contributing to the conditions of hypergraphia (the overwhelming urge to write) and writer’s block.

But how to explain [...]

Life seems to love the liver of it.
–Maya Angelou, Wouldn’t Take Nothing for My Journey Now (1993)

I am thankful for many things; among them are:
Good health
The love of friends and family
Work I enjoy
Freedom
Blogs/The Internet
Books, books, books
Music
Delicious food
Comfortable shelter
This planet I call home
Cat companions
Humor and laughter
Empathy
Emotional expression
Art — appreciating and making it
The Divine Indwelling in all
There is much, much more I could list. These are just the basics, for me. [...]

Dog-tiredness is such a lovely prayer, really, if only we would recognize it as such.
–Mother Maribel of Wantage, in Sister Janet, CSMV, Mother Maribel of Wantage (1972)

Perhaps it’s the pull of the season, with the earlier sunsets and colder nights, but I haven’t felt particularly expressive here in the past few days. There are numerous topics to write about, but when I attempt to create a coherent post, I feel muddled. And since it’s not Thanksgiving yet, I can’t [...]

Her handshake ought not to be used except as a tourniquet.
–Margaret Halsey, With Malice Toward Some (1938)

Stop. Right now. Stop reading this and look at your hands. Ponder them for a few moments.
Hands are marvelous. With them, we feed and groom ourselves, build shelter, communicate, express love, learn, and play. They are capable of intricate as well as broad movment. They are pretty sturdy, considering [...]