Dear friends, perhaps these last weeks (months? years?) have felt a little sprint-y for you, too – and even the happiest sprints can leave us breathless. Let’s take in the air of this fresh new morning, with the help of John O’Donohue. A Morning Offering by John O’Donohue I bless the night […]
There’s a curious form of time-shifting that comes from returning to a place we once knew well. When I travelled to Japan a few weeks ago, I was delighted to hear once again the phrase, “ki o tsukete.” Usually these words are translated as “take care,” but the literal translation is a little more magical, […]
“There’s more to continuity than not stopping.” – Stuart Brand I was lucky to hear Stuart Brand speak at the Santa Fe Institute this week, where participants discussed everything from the Aeneid to AI. Brand was noting that we often underestimate the importance of maintenance, at every scale. We celebrate perseverance, more than […]
Years ago, before all of the multi layered security and traffic restrictions, it was common to see someone off at the airport. There would be tearful hugs at the gate, joyful reunions as loved ones emerged from an arriving flight, and all of the more mundane hellos and goodbyes in-between. Whole plots of movies […]
The financial world has lost a legend in the passing of Byron Wien, longtime strategist at Morgan Stanley and more recently Vice Chair at Blackstone Advisory Partners. For many years he had the courage to publish his signature “10 Surprises of the Coming Year” list, and even more courageously, at the end of each year […]
Zen does not confuse spirituality with thinking about God while one is peeling potatoes. Zen spirituality is just to peel the potatoes. – Alan Watts I lived in Japan during college, and have only been back for business travel since then. Until this season! […]
Sometimes the questions have no answers. Sometimes helpless and hopeless intertwine. Sometimes griefs compound. And, sometimes the sun and the moon and the earth align and the planet cools in shadow and even the birds pause in their cries and there is a moment of sacred peace. Petroglyphs at Mesa Verde, about 800 […]
About once a year, I review the foundational Leverage Points essay by Donella Meadows. Like a great painting or novel, new insights emerge every time. This year, the essay led me down a path to Meadows’ talk at a 1994 academic conference, where the stated topic was Envisioning a Sustainable World. Courageously setting her […]
In my dream the other night I was waiting to board a plane, in the muddled frazzled frame of mind that comes from too much motion and not enough stillness. As I tried to concentrate on a stream of inbound emails, I felt someone coming up behind me – a little too close, as […]
Beauty awakens the soul to act. – Dante While thousands gathered for climate week in New York these past few days, I took a turn to a much smaller venue. I listened to scientists, brainy and brimming with equations, highlight the importance of human connection. I heard about a police officer stopping to […]