True Confession
In my 20’s I hung out with fashion photographers, neon sculptors, writers and artists. We were an eclectic tribe of misfits. We had parties in large lofts in a down… Read more True Confession →
I am an immigrant
I am an immigrant. I did become a Canadian citizen about 5 years after I got here. But before that I worked at a number of jobs but never once heard anyone give me crap because I took a “Canadian’s job.” I did have one rather snotty Canadian inform me (at Heritage Days no less) that now that I had left the United States I would have to abandon my melting pot mythology and accept the inherent wisdom of the Canadian mosaic. It was all rather amusing, but that was… Read more I am an immigrant →
Perseverance
My grandmother cooked on an old wood burning stove. I was always excited to visit her. She would be waiting on the front porch, her long gray hair tied up in a bun, her house dress stained from cooking and working in the garden. I raced from the car as she walked down the stairs, opening her big arms she would wrap around me and then lift me up into the air. She squeezed so tightly I could barely breathe. She smelled of bread and earth and of love. I’d… Read more Perseverance →
Where does who you are reside?
Who are you? How could I ever know? So the question turns to, “Who am I?” Am I contained within my body? Or does my identity exist across fields of… Read more Where does who you are reside? →
My Basketball Coach
I have always been tall and husky. I was my current height, 6 foot 7 inches, in my freshman year of high school, and I was a basketball player and… Read more My Basketball Coach →
Looking for a miracle
I have stood alone on too many cold street corners unsure of which way is home. You know the feeling. Your eyes stretch at each passing car, looking for a miracle.
Was that you I saw standing on the edge?
I was the Lumber Jack size of a man with his toes on the precipice just a stone’s throw away from you. My toes were nearly hanging over, which meant my belly extended even further over the edge. The other side – that place beyond the chasm where I wanted to be – wasn’t all that far away. I imagined if I backed up 20 yards and ran fast, I could make the leap with room to spare. Were you thinking the same thing? I tried not to look down… Read more Was that you I saw standing on the edge? →
Acceptance
We can’t do it when we are young. We know too little. We have not tasted enough truth. Eventually we can taste everything: the sweet, the bitter, everything in between. One day, Wisdom appears at our door. Small and unsure at first, it speaks nonetheless, each word finding courage from the last. One day we walk around a corner and there it is waiting for use: that space so deep inside where our nature resides, that which never changes, the constant “I.” It is not the “self” but that which… Read more Acceptance →
Pride
It’s hard to find. There are so many who do not want you to have any. They think it belongs to them. They think that if you have any, they will not have enough for themselves. Thankfully, there are those who want you to have it feel it breathe it be alive with it. Welcome them. Have the pride you deserve. It is not the only reason but it is a very good reason to dance.
The Joy of Knowing Buddy
Buddha and I were having a beer. Actually he ordered a hard cider. Before he invited me out to the bar, I had always thought Buddha didn’t partake. Come to think of it I never pictured him doing much more than sit on his ass with a big grin on his face. After a few ciders, I clued into the cause of his happiness. We lived in the same neighborhood. We first met at Max and Cherry’s Laundromat and Gift Shoppe. We were folding clothes at adjacent tables. He was buttoning… Read more The Joy of Knowing Buddy →
Make Things
Make things. Whether you have a purpose or not. Even if you do not understand what you have made. Keep making things. If you do not, you will have nothing.
