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Beginner's Heart
Beginner's Heart
anger and feeding the hungry and what the…?
By
Britton Gildersleeve
Would someone explain to me what is wrong with feeding the hungry? I can’t think of ANY faith or wisdom tradition that doesn’t ask its adherents to feed the hungry. And to take care of (not libel and humiliate) those of us who are less fortunate. And yet people who are, ostensibly, America’s leaders, continue…
grapevine, blue zones, and everyday practice
By
Britton Gildersleeve
This is my unruly garden. To be fair, it’s mostly unruly because I forget it. I get caught up writing/ cooking/ drinking tea/ just vegging (and not the garden kind), and the day is gone. And I actually quite like gardening. Well, maybe that’s not totally true. Sometimes — like w/ exercise? — I like…
tonight’s dinner is brought to you by
By
Britton Gildersleeve
Tonight was supposed to be leftover roast chicken w/ salad. But I found cherry tomatoes at the market, and it seemed like a good day (grey, damp, gloomy) to pretend it was summer. Especially since it’s supposed to get down to 44˚ tonight! So instead of salad & chicken, we’re having roast cherry tomatoes with…
writing, beginner’s heart
By
Britton Gildersleeve
Writing is my practice. It took me a long time to recognise this, and even longer to accept it. It didn’t fit my (preconceived!) notions of what ‘practice’ looks like. But over the years, I’ve come to realise that writing — which I do daily, and multiple times daily, at that — is not easy…
spring springing
By
Britton Gildersleeve
Spring done sprung. At least at my house — witness dogwoods, Japanese maple, my mother’s azaleas. I am sooo ready. The azaleas, as noted, came from my mother’s home, before she moved in with my sister. They weren’t the colour I would have chosen — although I love the Hershey red, now — but they…
rain, rain
By
Britton Gildersleeve
It’s raining. The gardener in me is happy, but the sun-loving reptile? Not so much. Most things are like this, I suspect — good news/bad news. And not even ‘bad’ news. Just inconvenient, or gloomy, or … dampening. 🙂 Lately, whenever I sit down to write, or even think about writing, I bump up against attachment.…
reflections on mortality
By
Britton Gildersleeve
Nothing like a nervous day at the doc’s to make you realise your life is very good. Not that I needed reminding… But it still serves as a bit of a wake-up call. You know: what the heck are you whining about?? 🙂 The eye that was giving me fits is just aging, as I…
you don’t always get what you want…
By
Britton Gildersleeve
I’m raising bees! Today I went outside to check on them, and the brilliant blue/ green/ yellow & black of their bodies glittered as the females laid multiple eggs in the tubes of my mason bee house. The newer one is almost full, and even last year’s (carefully cleaned out for another year’s use) is…
when Buddhism and Christianity were THIS close
By
Britton Gildersleeve
Most of the time, I confess, I think of Christianity as a violent religion. Beginning w/ the Crusades, various holy wars, the Spanish Inquisition, the Salem witch trials, Nazi Germany… It doesn’t appear to have read the New Testament, and it certainly doesn’t stress peace on earth to any real degree. Or so it’s always…
form, poetry, and the empty cup
By
Britton Gildersleeve
I spent the day researching obscure poetic forms. And it was enormous fun — thinking about what to pour into those elegant white cups of structure. Along the way, I wrote this poem for my sisters (the least structured of women). But we’ll get to the poem in a moment. Because what’s important is this…
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