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The Road Home
Returning from university in The Netherlands, I contemplated a pandemic in which the major contagion was opinion quick and fixed. What a study of the mind and society, as each filters and falters to turn information into knowledge. That January, new issues ignited around John de Ruiter. Followers departed and critics condemned. Regarding Covid-19, my […]
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Gardening
I live on a living thing, on whose radiant crown I settle down. Raking the leaves, like combing this elder giant’s hair, I care For the land on which I stand. So much work, I scratch his head and wonder what it’s worth, but the garden Was first. I arrived late and noticed who was […]
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To Summer
This true beauty, soon to leave, I’ll pluck and keep you in my sleeve To scribble down in a brimming poem. The ripples quiet. I create my own, As you throw out your tameless greens and blues, For human hands to gather up and lose. Heaps of curly kale and chard, And dusk turns leaves […]
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The Love of Labour
Why tough work makes me happy …and How to Fix a Wet Basement with Interior Weeping Tile “I don’t like work—no man does—but I like what is in the work—the chance to find yourself. Your own reality—for yourself…what no other man can ever know. They can only see the mere show, and never can tell […]
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In Training
What I learned from my dog Though I grew up with a German shepherd, I had never taken care of a dog myself. Among so many priorities in life, a dog would not fit, I thought. Around our house, which is a garden cottage in a shady neighbourhood, security concerns finally ignited the possibility: could […]
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We Are in Creation
An Introduction to the Arts as a Modality for Growth Since 2018, I have been studying the field of Expressive Arts Therapy, a slight misnomer, as the “field” is a sphere of realization available to us all. The “expressive arts” refer to energy in the heart, mind, and body — catalyzed by artistic modes such […]
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Thoughts from a window cleaner
Or how to boost productivity, enjoy life, and succeed Popular wisdom says embrace the unknown, brave challenges, fear nothing. Easily said and – like rolling a boulder uphill – done. Before window cleaning, my struggles and successes had been spiritual, but accomplishment was etched into my body by the scrubbing, lifting, and sky-scraping work of […]
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True Magic in Pan’s Labyrinth
True Magic in Pan’s Labyrinth Guillermo del Toro weaves us a tale rich in myth and archetypes, the kind we loved as children and forgot. At the same time, Pan’s Labyrinth is gorgeous, forward-thinking cinema that undoes what we thought we knew about story and about life; it woos us and haunts us alternately with […]
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A River in the Rainforest: How the Most Beautiful Moments Exist within the Mundane
Any experience can open up into something life-giving and gorgeous. Environments as unlike as day and night cross-pollinate. A stuffy airport queue recalls a river in the rainforest. Don’t fall for the appearances around you. Behind the veil, between the cracks, beneath the surface, there is beauty and wonder. Let go of what you think […]
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Engage!
I was standing over a cliff in New South Wales, Australia, watching the sea pound at the rocks. I suddenly thought of the principle of engagement, like the water that gets into every crevice and relentlessly does its work. There is no need for thoughts, intentions, or beliefs when you simply immerse yourself into a project. The […]