A Mindful Life

Men drop to the earth like leaves
Lives as brief as footprints in snow.
Bristlecones enthroned on top of the world
Watch civilizations come and go.
They seek our secret, immortality,
But search in vain, for it is vanity.
If truth be known I would rather
be a flower, or a leaf that lives
and breathes with brief intensity.
My life is as thin [...]

Studies show that gregarious, well-connected people actually lost friends, and experienced symptoms of loneliness and depression, after joining discussion groups and other activities. People who communicated with disembodied strangers online found the experience empty and emotionally frustrating but were nonetheless seduced by the novelty of the new medium. As Prof. Robert Kraut, a Carnegie Mellon [...]

Stately pillars frame
a humble river. Listen!
Water music plays.

“Chattahoochee Overpass” by Eric Hill ©2003 / ephotograph

As a place becomes known, people startto flock there. Some come in a sacred manner.Others are boisterous and unconscious, as if they fearedthe knowledge of themselves which the place invites.
When you come to a place honor its rhythm and its voice.We think that our small talk has some importance, butAll our noise is like [...]

Wisdom is the reward you get for a lifetime of listening when you’d have preferred to talk.
–Doug Larson

The post just preceding this was written by the husband of the woman who writes Dooce. Heather is knee-slappingly funny at times; she expresses herself with an artful blend of sarcasm and sweetness that makes her writing fresh and taut. She’s immensely enjoyable. Since I’ve been pondering the prospect of motherhood, [...]

There was a time in my life when I thought I wouldn’t have children. The reasons were many, and made a great deal of sense to me then. I’m glad that I didn’t have children. But I’m so glad that we have Leta now. Yes, it’s the hardest thing I’ve ever done. When she cries [...]

Here’s a brain snack from MacRaven, written by my buddy Dave Haxton. He often makes interesting points.
This is the ultimate statement of faith: ‘God said it, I beleive it, that settles it.’ The complete and utter refusal to believe the evidence of your own mind or eyes against the ramblings of an ancient [...]

These kinds of life stories always amuse me and inspire me to consider similar vignettes of my youth.
Suddenly my mother smiled. Without taking her eyes off my dad, she stripped down to her bra and panties, then walked past her stunned husband and opened the front door where she stood facing our neighbor’s [...]

I’ve happened across a new-to-me blog called seeking clarity, and I’m drawn to the writer’s style. She is sincere, candid, and asks important questions.
I can’t even get to Ellensburg without a confidence crisis; how the hell am I supposed to choose at this fork? Left or right? East or west? And [...]