In theory, long summer days plus constraints on activity creates a pocket of calm and reflection and deeper rooting in the world. In reality, it’s a trying time. Small annoyances like a missed email or the farmstand being out of corn loom larger than normal, in part because there is less to look forward […]
I’ve been lucky to spend a lot of time in the garden lately, where I victoriously harvested 6 whole green beans yesterday, after defending them from bunnies and groundhogs and deer. In getting closer to all sorts of plants, I’ve learned a lot more about roots. Some are shallow and easily disturbed, like the […]
Years ago I attended a seminar with the brilliant mathematician Benoit Mandelbrot. I remember being so excited to hear what he had to say, and also a little worried that the discussion would be too technical for me to follow. The first sentence he said was, “I study roughness.” He explained that most of mathematics […]
Don’t just do something, stand there! Jack Bogle Pay attention. Be astonished. Tell about it. Mary Oliver This was a tough week for loss – both the poet Mary Oliver and the investor Jack Bogle. At first glance these seem like people who had little in common: Oliver spent her days in the […]
Zoom out, zoom in. When I was studying biomimicry and natural systems, we’d do a neat and simple exercise for observation: zoom out, and zoom in. Take a moment and scan a whole forest, and from a plain swath of green some amazing patterns start to emerge. You might see a clump of trees near […]
“You do what you have to do to be faithful.” Earlier this week I had the joy of hearing Sister Pat Daly speak to a gathering of investors. In describing the motivation behind her decades of work as an engaged investor, she simply said, “you do what you have to do to be […]
More than kisses, letters mingle souls. – John Donne If you are like me, one of your new-century habits over morning coffee is to scroll through photos that your friends and family post on line. This time of year it feels like an stream of terrific postcards, the images full […]
The opposite of poverty is not wealth. The opposite of poverty is justice. – Bryan Stevenson This week marked the opening of the Legacy Museum and National Memorial for Peace and Justice in Montgomery, Alabama, projects led by the Equal Justice Initiative. Many observers noted the painful and compelling need for such […]
“I Coulda Been a Contender!” * Absence and Loss Winter in New England has a stark beauty, and sometimes it also has a relentless gray bleakness, which brings a certain kind of reflection. Lately I’ve been considering the sharp pain of loss and the role that rituals and community can provide. We’ve spent centuries developing […]
A dear friend reminded me this week that we are smack-dab in the middle of the season of reflection and gratitude, despite the contrary indicators of jam-packed calendars and distracting sparkly holiday sweaters and occasional bouts of end-of-year whining. Luckily our conversation sent me straight to the wonderful Anne Lamott for refuge, and her book […]