Category Archives: Spirtual Practice

Addiction/Cravings

Posted on July 13, 2021 by Jeff

A Month Without Coffee is an interesting look at addiction/cravings, specifically about coffee, but applicable to other substances. And I think about food at contemplative retreats, monasteries, etc. A key phrase is “flavor signal”. Substances with a strong flavor signal … Continue reading →

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Prescient

Posted on May 16, 2021 by Jeff

Rest, but pay attention. Refuse to cooperate with anyone who is stealing your freedom, you personal and civil liberties, and then smirking about it. I’m not going to name names. Anne Lamott – “Plan B” Writers sometimes appear prescient (seeing … Continue reading →

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Learning to Pray – Austin Kleon

Posted on February 24, 2021 by Jeff

Austin Kleon is one of my favorite writers on the creative process. I’ve bought several of his books and read his blog.He shares bits of his work and parts of his process. Learning to Pray hit me from out of … Continue reading →

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Sign of the Times

Posted on November 21, 2020 by Jeff

I read too much news, trying to get some sense of the way the world is going. People get stupid when they grasp for certainties. Michael Ventura Reading Failed Haiku, a monthly on-line publication, is probably a better way to … Continue reading →

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A Conversation at the Gates of Hell

Posted on October 25, 2020 by Jeff

My recently published poem, “Conversation at the Gates of Hell,” is about a metaphorical conversation across the political/social/generational divide. “The odd friends: The young liberal and the elderly conservative” is wonderful story of an ongoing actual conversation across those divides. … Continue reading →

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Lifesaving Poems

Posted on September 10, 2020 by Jeff

As Anthony Wilson tells in The most popular lifesaving poems, he pivoted his blog several years ago to the afore mentioned topic. Mary Oliver’s The Journey tops the list. They all are worth reading. Naomi Shihab Nye’s The Art of … Continue reading →

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View from Above

Posted on August 12, 2020 by Jeff

Several decades ago, probably not long after the Blue Marble photo of the Earth from the Moon was taken in 1972, I read a Science Fiction story about the effect of that experience on astronauts. The people in the story … Continue reading →

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John McPhee on Writing and the Relationship Between Artistic Originality and Self-Doubt

Posted on August 3, 2020 by Jeff

Impostor Syndrome is an occupational hazard of any creative endeavor. John McPhee’s discussion of the problem and its solution (taken from his book Draft No. 4) on Brain Pickings both nailed the problem and its solution. Read it and bookmark … Continue reading →

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One Fine Day

Posted on July 26, 2020 by Jeff

“I complete my tasks, one by one. I remove my masks, when I am done..” David Byrne and Brian Eno One Fine Day: David Byrne Performs His Hymn of Optimism and Countercultural Anthem of Resistance and Resilience with the Brooklyn … Continue reading →

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Beauty in the Storm

Posted on July 18, 2020 by Jeff

David Brooks preached a sermon in the National Cathedral on July 4, 2020. It is the most powerful sermon I’ve heard in a long time. It’s unswervingly Jesus’ message from the standpoint of the reality on the ground for the … Continue reading →

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