Metta: The Practice of Kindness

    “If only it were all so simple. If only there were evil people somewhere else insidiously committing evil deeds, and it were necessary only to separate them from the rest of us and destroy them. But the line dividing good and evil cuts through the heart of every human being, and who among […]

Gratitude: We All Built That

  September 6th, 1984 is etched deep in my cells. I remember exactly where I was sitting (in my kitchen), and what I was reading (The Vegetarian Epicure) when the phone rang. Back then there was no caller ID, but when I picked up the phone, the brief silence at the other end of the […]

Pursuit of the Perfect Pose

    I stand, feet three feet apart, arms outstretched, ribs and spine extended laterally, on the unforgiving concrete floor. Triangle pose. A confusing chorus of the sharp, insistent voices of two teachers and two assistants bounce about the room. Instructions are being yelled out so quickly that I feel I can’t possibly perform them […]

Of Tulips and the Transitory

    I wish tulips bloomed all summer. Two weeks of glory is far too little. During their spring performance I find myself making excuses to sit among the tulips lining the walk leading to my front door. I can’t resist shooting tulip photos year after year, hoping to preserve them somehow but knowing that […]