I recently subscribed to the website Waking Up to aid me in my mindfulness meditation practice—let me emphasize the word ‘practice.’ This book is mentioned several times as a classic work published in 1961 by the mystic-philosopher Douglas Harding. The book is a primer (a short 123 pages) on how to realize one’s true nature
Author: Barbara
Plath’s poem ‘Words Heard, By Accident, Over The Phone’ was so powerful–full of raw anguish–that it motivated me to learn more about her life. Clark’s biography is over 900 pages long, so it took me quite awhile to finish it. This tome may contain too much detail for some readers. The biography kept me interested
While this novel is over 500 pages long, it covers only ten days in the lives of three barely adult young men, Emmett, Duchess, and Wooly and Emmett’s younger brother Billy, as they travel east along the Lincoln Highway. When Emmett is dropped off at the defunct family farm in Nebraska by the juvenile detention
I attended a zoom workshop on hope at Upaya with Johanna Macy on Sunday. It made me ponder the Buddhist 4 immeasurables: Loving Kindness, Compassion (being present to suffering), Shared Joy, (being present to joy) and Equanimity. I believe all are necessary to stay sane and effective in times of crisis. A current crises for
Multi-talented Elizabeth Alexander shines as a poet, educator, scholar and cultural advocate. Her new book The Trayvon Generation is showcase for her talents. She names the young people growing up in the last twenty years the Trayvon Generation. She movingly describes the costs and hopes that come out of the last two decades of highly
Vanessa Nakate is a young climate activist from Uganda. When she became aware of the climate crisis and its disastrous impact upon her country, she decided she had to do something. She became internationally known at the 2020 World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. She was one of five international delegates alongside Greta Thunberg. The
This is a memoir that exemplifies the phrase coined by the feminist Carol Hanisch in an essay she wrote in 1969, “The Personal is Political.” The essay was in response to criticism of consciousness raising groups. Moore spent a good deal of his early life thinking that the his personal circumstances and the personal circumstances
Every year our local women’s help center, Centre Safe, raises funds by screening Lunafest short films at a local theater. When COVID closed the theaters, the event became available online. The films are all made by women and the ticket sales support women filmmakers and women’s groups. The tickets are $15 plus a small fee.
The Secret to Superhuman Strength is a graphic memoir. It’s the first book I have ever read by Alison Bechdel. She’s a wonderful cartoonist who became well know through her comic strip Dykes to Watch Out For (1983–2008). She went on to produce two previous graphic memoirs, Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic and Are You
I subscribe to Jenni Monet’s online newsletter, Indigenously. It’s a great resource for information concerning Native American issues. She often makes suggestions for further reading. Based on Monet’s recommendation, I read Ada Blackjack. Her story is a page-turner about early exploration in the Arctic. In 1921 four young men and one Native American woman, Ada
Seasonal Reading 