Kew are so beautiful. You can learn all sorts of things from hanging out with plants. Early in the London leg of my Europe trip, my friend Sarah took me to the Kew Royal Botanical Garden. An impressive oasis in the desert of city pavement, Kew maintains impeccably groomed, sprawling lawns, gardens, greenhouses, ponds, and [more…]
Leading Beyond Dualisms
“Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and right doing, there is a field. I’ll take you there. When the soul lies down in that grass, the world is too full to talk about. Ideas, language, even the phrase ‘each other’ doesn’t make any sense.” –Rumi Some people need clear direction, wandering rudderless when they don’t have [more…]
Shaking Hands With Findhorn
Scottish artist Andy Goldsworthy has inspired me for years. His creations almost always activate my sense of wonder, bringing earth-based materials — twigs, stones, leaves, and water — into conversation with other natural forces — light, wind, tide, and time. His works shift as they interact with the landscape, passing through multiple evocative stages of [more…]
The Magic of Early Morning
Something about early morning makes it especially powerful as a time for contemplation. Partly it’s that nature can make her presence known—or more accurately, we can hear her calling more easily. Human sounds have not yet stirred to distract or drive away the more wild or rare thoughts that might come to consciousness, like a [more…]