What's your favorite time of day? I have a weekly habit of arising at 5:00AM on Sundays, in the pre-dawn hours. There is something about how the Silence envelopes me at the time that brings an inner peace. I was not a morning person at all most of my life. I rose early only occasionally … Continue reading Deep Silence before Dawn
Another Beautiful Day
Sundays are the day I consistently rise before the sun. I am awake by 5:00 AM and in “my chair” by 5:10 with a cup of coffee and the Silence as companions. This morning was no different and completely different. My space is at the back of our house, a small room addition with windows … Continue reading Another Beautiful Day
A Dream Last Night
Tell us about the last thing you got excited about. Awakening this morning, I was excited to remember a dream. It is rare for me to recall one at all, let alone clearly. Here is how I might summarize it: I was back at university; the grounds were very familiar from the time I was … Continue reading A Dream Last Night
Practicing for life
My title really should read something more like, “I used to practice for life as if life and practice were separate instances.” I have an everyday practice: meditation, journaling, reading, listening. I come to my space and sit. This sitting sets an intention for the day, an intention to inhale and exhale, to receive and … Continue reading Practicing for life
Names, Stories, and Meaning
Where did your name come from? Names. What do they say about a person? What story do they tell? Are they pointers to identify the one about whom or to whom we are talking or something more? Birth Names. My given name, James Edward, came from my mother’s step-father (James) and her dad who died … Continue reading Names, Stories, and Meaning
Living My Mission
What motivates you? I suppose there are any number of ways to answer this question. As a younger person, I was motivated by fear: of failure, of being unloved and unappreciated, of not-fitting-in, of mediocrity, of dying unknown. It is amazing what an unrelenting motivator fear was; it never let up and created stress, anxiety, … Continue reading Living My Mission
Entertaining Diversions and Connecting Points
What are your top ten favorite movies? I enjoy a “good” movie while at the same time recognizing movies for what I experience them to be: diversions and entertainment. There is nothing particularly wrong about being diverted and/or entertained as long as I recognize it. I do practice “being there” as I watch a movie, … Continue reading Entertaining Diversions and Connecting Points
Expression and Discovery
What do you enjoy most about writing? Writing for me is a way of bringing to form concepts that are bouncing around unnamed in my thoughts. As the words flow, sometimes I am surprised by what I discover and the old/new patterns that are arising unbidden. Other times I am startled to see a cohesion … Continue reading Expression and Discovery
Four Seasons
What do you love about where you live? Winter, Spring, Summer, Autumn. I love the feel of experiencing all four seasons as each of them has a beauty and allure all its own. As I am writing, I find myself in the Northern Hemisphere in summer. Culturally, summer has become a time of vacations and … Continue reading Four Seasons
Unrestricted Positive Regard
What positive emotion do you feel most often? Love. I most often feel a spaciousness, a deeply open space, a positive energetic flow that emerges from somewhere beyond and within me. I have come to see that Love is an energy, perhaps such a subtle one we cannot yet measure it. Perhaps we never will. … Continue reading Unrestricted Positive Regard
Infinitely Precious 