The sky is overcast and the huge waves I see in the distance will come crashing onto the beach. A couple of motorcycle taxis pass me and the drivers are wearing their hooded sweatshirts; they feel cold. Having lived here for such a long time I feel the cold too.

Sometimes being “slow” can be a valuable characteristic. Being “slow” can make you a better decision maker, and promote creativity.

The rushing, the stress, the busy-ness of our modern lives cheats us of the most significant awareness of our surroundings, our relationships.

At some point in our lives all of us had high hopes of something very different than what life presented us with, a story we wrote but tucked away when we were very young perhaps. And then one day the buried dream starts to haunt us once more and this time with an insistence we cannot ignore.

A familiar topic these days is the practice of gratitude. Feeling thankful for people and events in our lives and giving voice to those feelings can enhance our well-being. If we look around us there may be surprising benefits to expressing gratitude for inanimate objects.

The Almond Lady is one of workers engaged in what I call “naturally occurring work”. Her work supports a family. She demonstrates the strength of the common people here and their creative skills to make work for themselves through marginal but honest activities.

This little shell, just open for this moment, is a message to listen to new ways of thinking, to new ways of righting injustice, to new ideas of providing the right support for humanity, the support that is needed right now.

Having a nourishing environment can make all the difference to quality of life. In this new forced environment we are experiencing right now, are you thinking about how you would like your environment to be when a new normal environment will be possible?

As I approach the ocean shore thinking how fortunate I am to be able so quickly to come to a place that is peacefully not changing. The ocean is here as it was yesterday and where it will be tomorrow. My anxiety lessens. As I look around I see the little bird who is always here. He was here yesterday and will be here tomorrow. My mood lifts; I start to breathe more deeply. My feeling of safety kicks in. What I see around me is familiar.

All over the world there are individuals performing small acts to help save the environment. They do not make the headlines but they have more impact than we know.

I sat on the railing and watched him make the coffee.
The sun was shining, I relaxed and forgot about the urgency of the work I had left. I thought, “If I were in the cold north right now, I would be tapping my fingers in impatience, not even looking at the server and I would be missing the connection with another human being”.

Does your talent have flowering moments that you choose to miss or feel you must save for another day? Do you have brief moments when you feel the desire to give voice to, to write about, to sketch about, or even to live in a new way, place, or daily routine? Perhaps it’s time to give it an audience?

There is so much to be learned from nature if we take the time to notice. Even in the most challenging situations or times it can be possible to renew, to regain, when it seems that our chances for success have been destroyed.
Every morning I must pass through a narrow opening to enter the space by the ocean’s shore where I do my morning exercises. As I do, I notice…

A Poor Place to ThriveThis coconut is trying valiantly to survive. It has grown a green shoot to reach for the warmth and light of the sun, and with rain, it can receive the water it needs, but the third ingredient for its survival is missing....

An early morning walk is a loving commitment to myself, a daily practice primarily for exercise and for taking the time to practice my Qigong routine of breath and stretch work.
When I am in my island home, I go down to the ocean to a magical place where inspiration and peaceful contemplation wait for me. Today it is a little later than usual when I start out but still the air is fresh.