Bowing to What Is
If we’re willing to be changed and if we’re willing to make change, we come alive. Why? Because life is change.
All My Relations
All these relatives contributed to my life. Their stories exert an influence on my story. When I become conscious of them, when I welcome their being into mine, I become them, too, at least in part. An important dimension of myself is returned to me.
Shouting to the Heavens
Dillard is more radical than I supposed—radical, that is, in the original sense of “forming the root.” She understands creativity to work at a metaphysical level, transforming the basic stuff of the universe.
Shouting to the Heavens Read More »
Practice, Practice, Practice
What Emily and I want for Gwyn is all that practice teaches: How with every new piece we’re a beginner, how repetition builds skill, how persistence pays off, how talent amounts to nothing without hard work, how to foster a work ethic, how to make mistakes and keep going, how over time and effort what seems impossible becomes possible. How any discipline (music, science, language, faith) opens into ever greater possibilities the deeper we go. How real transformation only happens with practice. How practice becomes the whole point.
Practice, Practice, Practice Read More »
Adding to the Universe’s Order
What I find remarkable about Wallace’s story is how he saw creative potential within a relationship comprised of rejections.
Adding to the Universe’s Order Read More »
Stories in the Genes
My ancestors are with me, in me. Their stories are my story, and somehow this is comforting. I’m not alone. I’m living out our story—and it’s so big, surely it’s holy.
Stories in the Genes Read More »
Adding to the “Sum of the Universe’s Order”
In our product-driven, results-oriented culture, we like to think creative work gains worth by its impact on an audience. Liz’s story illustrates that who we become for having done the creative work is an equally important “product” with significant “results.”
Adding to the “Sum of the Universe’s Order” Read More »
Prying Open The Crack
If I never notice what’s happening, I can’t choose my response. I’m reactive. But if I first stop and observe, I can be deliberate about what’s next. I’m coming to think that inside this crack lurks the greatest arena of human freedom.
Prying Open The Crack Read More »
The Aliveness of Completed Work
The unpublished memoir definitely exerts a subtle but important influence on me.
The Aliveness of Completed Work Read More »
Not Other Than Earth
This capacity to understand ourselves as in and of one another, shot through with divinity, and sourced in our beloved planet, is available to everyone. It’s deeply comforting. And it’s the only starting place for the healing we—and our planet—need.
Not Other Than Earth Read More »