Sometimes there’s no explosion, just radiation. Nuclear radiation breaks chemical bonds, melts the thickest of skins, and when mixed with airborne dust, causes the landscape to freeze in a manmade winter. Eventually the sun will come out, but who knows when that will be? All the field can do is wait. It waits. It waits a long time. Someday the sun might shine on a dormant seed, and it would warm and sprout. The seed cannot bring about sunshine or rain by itself, no matter how

You're cold and the sky is filled with puffy clouds, dark in the middle with silver linings glowing on the edges. Suddenly brilliant light makes your eyes tear up and bathes your face and body in warmth as the Sun comes out. I remember feeling that healing warmth the first time I went to a Mediterranean beach in Nice, France. The gentle lapping of the waves and whole body warmth from the Sun reminds me that all life in the world comes from two simple energies: Sunshine and Wa

These are a few of my favorite things words (in no particular order): Implacable - unable to be calmed or appeased Inexorable - impossible to stop or prevent (as in, a force of nature) Onomatopoeia - the formation of a word from a sound associated with what is named (e.g., cuckoo , sizzle ) Ping-pong - the sound a ping pong ball makes; a game of table tennis Crepuscular - of, resembling, or related to twilight Flub : to mess up, bungle, or botch something, usually in s

My old colleague Margaret used to say this about detractors; they may complain or criticize, but they don't have to affect you or even merit a response. The saying popped into my head while meditating today. "Monkey brain" kept pulling at me (monkey brain is the tendency of our minds to wander while trying to stay focused). I have been disturbed by an interaction I had where I felt criticized for actions I felt were right and sound, and I kept dwelling on it. I was listening

It Depends on What You Mean by "Work" ⚠️ Caution: Speculation Ahead Humans are the only living entities that pray. I can vouch that even atheists sometimes think "please help me" to what feels like a giant void. When faced with a problem bigger than ourselves, there's nothing else to do but beg the universe for assistance. It doesn't make sense, but it feels inherent to being human. It's common for atheists to say they wish they believed in something. Who wouldn't want to thi

He Kindly Stopped for Me Recently I learned of two deaths; one was my friend's father, the other her closest friend. Death has not stopped for me or anyone close to me yet. The nearest I've come is an image I had in a daydream of my mother being dead. The image lasted only a few minutes, but it felt like the most painful cold I could imagine, stone teeth digging into me and icy shards surrounding every inch of my body. Now I know what's in my future—a dark cave I won't ever b

Eleven-year old Summer Lin was struck and killed by a school bus less than a mile from my house. The lyric in the title of this post is...

—Taylor Swift, Mad Woman Photo by Nick Nice I’ve been too hard on Taylor Swift about her new album, The Life of a Showgirl . I judged her harshly over actions that pale in comparison to what other female billionaire celebrities have said and done (e.g., J.K. Rowling). Swift is only really guilty of writing some lyrics in bad taste. Over the past 53 years, I’ve written worse. Thankfully millions of people weren’t privy to any of it. "Everyone's got bodies in the attic." Here’s

"Comparison is the Thief of Joy" I agree with Teddy (Roosevelt), to whom this quote is attributed. When you're looking at someone else's blessings and craving them, you're not looking at your own and appreciating them. When you're assuming their hardships are nonexistent while yours are ever multiplying, your mind's eye is looking at a fun house mirror. Not fun, and not an accurate mirror. American rabbi and author Hyman Schachtel said : "Happiness is not having what you want