The Best of Bhutan

“Bhutan’s approach as a Buddhist country, a country that values Gross National Happiness, is different from a typical technocratic approach.” ~ Tenzing Lamsang, an investigative journalist and editor of The Bhutanese

Those who know me well are well aware I rarely read news. Today, I was drawn to read the article about Bhutan’s experience […]

LOVE Came Down at Christmas

I am grateful John and I had a practice run at not being physically with Stacey and her family for Christmas in 2019.

Last year we attended a Christmas Day potluck at Pine Island Cove with Michigan friends, Linda and Fred, who also winter here in Florida.

This year, John and I share our […]

What Remains is Enough

There’s going to be pain that feels overwhelming. There are going to be situations that come up where we just suddenly freeze up and say, “I don’t know how to do this.”

~ Barbara Brodsky

This is certainly a time of accepting what is and knowing that what is, is enough. The current version […]

Poetry – Brandon Leake’s Got Talent!

Anyone who lives art knows that psychoanalysis has no monopoly on the power to heal.

Art and poetry have always been altering our ways of sensing and feeling — that is to say, altering the human body.

~Norman O. Brown

Reality TV, like everything else in this human incarnation, has its ups and down, […]

Mario’s Italian Market Remains!

In response to “When Everything Falls Apart, What Remains?” posting, I received a precious email message from a Florida writer-friend.

Thank you, Paul, for igniting my heart by sharing your powerful writing of your poignant experience.

(Soft edits only!)

Welcome to the Yellow Brick Road, and please come again….

Dear Debra,

[…]

When Everything Falls Apart, What Remains?

I am technically practicing silence in a meditation retreat at Heartwood Refuge and Retreat Center in Hendersonville, North Carolina. But I am attending via Zoom and my fingers are on the keyboard. The focus of this retreat with John Orr is When Everything Falls Apart, What Remains? This was John’s blurb about the retreat:

[…]

Overcast

Overcast

It is overcast today Four months since I freely hugged or leaned over the puzzle table saying, “Where do you think this piece goes?” to my companion

In search of where each piece fits Longing for the satisfaction completion brings

The sun is up there Still shining but my world feels grey today

I […]

Through the Darkness

Start where you are, use what you have, do what you can.

~ Arthur Ashe

I am tempted to schedule this to post so readers don’t know that I have my fingers on the keyboard at 4:21 am while on retreat. If I were not retreating via Zoom because of COVID-19, I would not […]

Emerald Isle Musings

WORD FOR THE DAY

We did not ask for this room or this music; we were invited in.

Therefore, because the dark surrounds us, let us turn our faces toward the light.

Let us endure hardship to be grateful for plenty…

We did not ask for this room or this music.

But […]

Cookies

I have been safe sheltering for one week because of the global outbreak of COVID-19.

Today I baked cookies.

I used all of the flour, all of the brown sugar, 4 of the eggs, and almost the last of the butter.

While my action might seem mundane to some, to me […]