Attachment. Non. Merci. We get attached to concrete objects—dishes, cell phones, cars, houses. We get attached to ideas—roles we play and maintaining this is right and that is wrong. We get attached to comfort—and thinking that we oughtn’t be uncomfortable. We get attached to self and others. And plans. We get attached to …
Today’s scheduled article — cleverly entitled, “Attachment. Non. Merci.” — starts with a story at the top of the Arc de Triomphe in Paris. and then weaves into a lesson about not getting too attached to outcomes. That’s not happening. You aren’t reading that article today. Finding bandwidth to make the final edits was stressing me. …
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“Estoy…um, how do you say ‘cold’?” Emmett asks. We are attempting a conversation in Spanish. “What are you trying to say?,” I inquire, as I bite into the street taco I brought back to our heavily air conditioned hotel room in Mexico City. “I’m cold.” “Cold is frio. But it’s *tengo* frio. Not *estoy* frio.” …
It is Yom Kippur — the holiest day of the Jewish years. I’m in my backyard. In a tent. Fasting. Contemplating. It’s my practice. The dogs tell me and repeat: “Clear and present danger at the front door. Clear and present danger at the front door.” I unzip, go through the house, and …
Teaching with Heart The score that the tenth graders get the first time they take something called the CAHSEE—a California-issued standardized test—determines the amount of state funding the school as a whole receives. The pressure, created by bureaucrats who have no idea what actually goes into a school, is crippling on this school filled with …
Moments ago—this very evening—immediately after flipping up the switch for our bedroom lights, I thought, “That overhead light is too bright.” Never in my life before had I had that particular thought. I’d heard Jane say it. Many times.In many situations. It’s just that I’d never thought it. In fact, …
Learning to learn and learning to learn about love “Fist, Thumb, Fingers, Pinky.” “Fist, Thumb, Fingers, Pinky.” “Fist, Thumb, Fingers, Pinky.” “Fist, Thumb, Fingers, Pinky.” I say each word—Fist, Thumb, Fingers, Pinky—as I put that part of my right hand at the edge of the table. Students start doing it along with me. I continue, …
Seeing God — American Airline flight 1849 from CLT to PDX. There’s a man sitting in the seat across the aisle from me. He is wearing athletic shorts, a short sleeve t-shirt, and Giorgio Armani Collection glasses with matte nickel frames. He just keeps talking and talking to the woman in the seat on the …
Name: Email: The phrase “Time heals all wounds” is attributed to the Greek poet Menander (300 BCE). He was half right. Time is a component of healing. But healing does not happen with time alone. Healing requires both time and attention. *** Something traumatic recently happened to me in Harmony, North Carolina. And, because …