I became aware of an aspect of my Facebook (FB) “persona” recently when a new, and very perceptive, also, inspiring, friend, Joelie Key-Tissot, whom I met in Maui at the Cheryl Strayed writers’ workshop, tagged me in a poster posted by Cheryl (the caption also posted by Cheryl, read “Just installed this in my new … Continue reading The “F” word…
Originally posted on May 30, 2015… I admit it. I have a visceral fear of creepy, crawly, slimy, slithery, many-legged, or unusually-shaped body things. I’m talking centipedes, spiders, snakes, scorpions, eels, squid, octopi. It probably didn’t help that my brother, joking around one day, pretended to drop a ten inch long earthworm down the back … Continue reading Octopi & other living things…
Originally posted on May 26, 2015… As I was straightening up my kitchen a few days ago and about to toss out the vase of dying Peonies, I decided to snap a few pictures first. What delighted me, what felt like an insight, is that the closer I got, the more apparent the beauty. It … Continue reading As we are… on seeing ourselves & others
Originally posted on May 22, 2015… so sorry I’ve been “gone” for the last 3 weeks — technical difficulties!! Glad to be back. Two weeks ago, I attended my nephew Harrison’s graduation from NAU in Flagstaff. Commencement ceremonies mark both endings and beginnings. In Zen Buddhism, there is a phrase — Beginner’s Mind. It means … Continue reading beginner’s mind, wise women — Michelle, Krista, and Maria, and one really smart guy named Neil
Originally posted on April 25, 2015… Terrible news this morning with a massive earthquake (approx. 7.9 on the Richter scale) in Nepal, destroying buildings, homes, killing and injuring thousands of people in and around Kathmandu, and causing avalanches in the Himalayas, killing hikers there. They’ve had over 15 aftershocks just today of over 5.0 on … Continue reading Thinking of Nepal… and all of us…
Originally posted on April 24, 2015… Today, it’s a link to this article, something I would have loved to have written, but Courtney E. Martin already wrote it. Thanks Courtney. You are awesome. xo, Gayle Listening in the Cracks BY COURTNEY E. MARTIN (@COURTWRITES), ON BEING COLUMNIST I get to a small town in Indiana just 15 … Continue reading What She Said….
Originally posted on April 23, 2015… Like Kwan Yin, (the Buddhist Goddess of Compassion) I hear the suffering of the world. I do what I think I can, volunteer work, starting and facilitating some women’s groups, supporting good causes, signing petitions, voting, random acts of kindness… It never feels like enough. Maybe I need to … Continue reading Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life? Mary Oliver
Originally posted on April 18, 2015… Sometimes you get into something, a new town, a relationship, a blog site, and it becomes clear pretty quickly, it’s not a good match. And so it was. not. a. good. match. with. WordPress. Better to realize one’s mistake and move on before things just get more unhappy. At least, … Continue reading With a little help from my friends…
You wouldn’t think I’d need the Universe to tell me to get out of my comfort zone. It hasn’t been that much comfort for a long time. Just familiar. A familiar zone. The path of least resistance. I keep trying to “change up”, meet new people, take on new volunteer commitments, remember to breathe. Objectively … Continue reading “Be brave enough to break your own heart”. Sugar
I don’t think I’m alone in feeling the desire, No! the Need to be more expansive than I’ve taken my self to be in the past, to take more risks, to not be so afraid of others’ judgements, to not feel boxed in by previously imposed labels that in the past I accepted. I also … Continue reading “…and then the day came when the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom” —Anais Nin
