See my latest post at my new WordPress blog site (and follow me there if you haven't yet!)[...]

They say, “Begin at the beginning.” As I was lying in bed this morning before it got light out, and beginning to compose this blog entry in my head, I realized that the first poem I ever wrote was about death.[...]

In my Sept. 5th post I mentioned my unexpected week of “staycation” in August, and my reading of Michael Singer’s book The Surrender Experiment. As my developmental editor Jess Beebe pointed out, several threads in my writing and life relate to the question of control/planning/effort versus acceptance/going with the flow/relaxation. At Jess’s suggestion I want to reflect more on this theme, and a story from my week of “staycation” seems relevant.[...]

Okay, so I have to preface this blog post on interruption by saying that I began writing it before watching last night’s presidential debate between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton. I’m going to proceed with what I wrote before, then come back to reflect on “Donald's" continual interruption of “Secretary Clinton.”[...]

One night last month I dreamt that I was in a “go-round” at the beginning of a meeting and the person who was leading it invited us to talk about our association with herbs and plants. The first two people who went, my colleague Julie and someone else, talked about growing up on farms. Then it was my turn, and I started to cry, and said something like this:[...]

A few weeks ago I had a “staycation,” because the clay camp I’d signed up for was cancelled. Though I was sorely disappointed, I’ve been reading a book recommended to me by one of my somatics coaches, The Surrender Experiment by Michael Singer, which suggests practicing letting go of personal preferences and surrendering to what life offers. My declaration from 2012 that I’ve continued to practice with, “I am a commitment to opening to the sacred flow of life,” has now been modified to “I am a commitment to opening to and trusting in the sacred flow of life.” So, shortly after I heard the news about the cancellation, I began thinking, “What does it mean? What am I “supposed” to do instead of ceramics this week?” Or, as my friend Jean M. who is so wise, reframed it for me, “What is most aligned with life?” Instead of immediately telling everyone I was still in town after all and re-filling my empty calendar, I decided to go slow and see what would emerge.[...]

So one of the things about learning to “fully inhabit this alive naked heart” is that I seem to have a different relationship to my own heartbeat.[...]

Over the 16 months since I have been writing this blog, I have received many expressions of thanks and admiration. I deeply appreciate these words, and: I want to give credit where credit is due and request your assistance in supporting the giants whose shoulders I stand on. Many of the gems of wisdom I have shared with you come either directly or indirectly from transformational leadership trainings I have had the incredible luck and privilege to be part of. So today I want to tell you more about one of these training modalities, somatics, and invite you, if you are so moved, to donate to help make this powerful work accessible to more social movement leaders.[...]

I want to begin this post by pointing you to a wonderful song whose refrain, “Black lives matter to me” keeps going through my head. adrienne maree brown, the song’s author and singer, is a beloved colleague of mine.[...]

Today is, by the Jewish calendar, the 10th anniversary of my mother's death. Her brother, my Uncle Joe, invited me & my brother & sister to share memories of her via email. Here is a slightly expanded version of what I wrote:[...]