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Beginner's Heart

Here’s a video that literally brought tears to my eyes. I’ve always loved Paul Simon. In his earlier incarnation (Simon & Garfunkle) he got me through one of the hardest summers of my life. Later, his music got me through one bad spot after another, and helped me celebrate the bright moments that linked the…

Here’s a lovely poem from poet Tom Sleigh, a wonderful poet who writes about war, its impacts and the terrible beauty of the human heart. I especially like this one, ‘A Wedding at Cana, Lebanon, 2007.’

I don’t remember when I first heard the term ‘BFF’, or learned what it meant. I do know I had a visceral recognition: I knew – immediately – who my BFF was. Actually, who they were. I have the BFF I can tell anything – good, bad, indifferent. I can bore her w/ my newest…

The Dalai Lama is a funny guy. He can even find humour in his unpopularity w/ the Chinese (“I give them a little bit of trouble… People who create trouble for you… give you opportunity to practice tolerance,” he said w/ a big a grin). He’s also a polite panelist, making sure today, in Fayetteville,…

So here’s something that’s just fun. But it’s also kind of lovely… Think about it: a cat playing w/ wet dolphins… I want to be that trusting…

Warning: if birds don’t make you think of infinity, then you may not want to read further… This week I saw an indigo bunting feeding at the bird feeder. Nothing fancy in the feeder — just the usual small seed mix. But the bird? Wow. Brilliant blue — electric blue. Darker than this picture looks.…

My husband says bees have a Buddhist work ethic. I was prattling on about bees (not uncommon around our house), and I said that bees should be in this blog banner. Because, I said, bees are such a great metaphor (besides being decidedly cool on their own). They make honey from hard work, I said,…

I may be bad at gentle, but I’m good at believing. The White Queen’s ‘six impossible things before breakfast’ is nothing to me. I believe in world peace. In faeries (really). In other universes. In public education. And at least two more things I forget. Daily. There’s a national movement, inspired by the sainted Edward…

So what is beginner’s heart? I actually Googled the term. Not many results apply. I came up with it like I do poem titles ~ it seemed like a good idea, and like it would lead me somewhere. It’s how (and often why) I write: where will the writing take me? What will I learn?…

It’s an act of extreme hubris to begin a blog — it says that what we think and feel and do in our unexceptional life is worth noting. And of course it is, to those who love us. But I’ve felt for some time that there isn’t enough of that — the attention to the…
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