Nine Kinds of Generous
“Not speaking and speaking are both human ways of being in the world, and there are kinds and grades of each,” writes Paul Goodman in the Nine Kinds of Silence. “There is the dumb silence of slumber or apathy; the sober silence that goes with a solemn animal face; the fertile silence of awareness, pasturing the soul, […]
Embarassed by my Abundance
My daughter nailed it. “Mom, are you embarrassed by that bag?” We were browsing in a fancy leather store and I had tried on a Prada purse just for fun, but she could tell by the look on my face that I could never go out in public sporting that thing. Too much. It wasn’t just […]
Thanks for Dinner, Dad
“Rats,” said one. This was greeted by a delighted chortle from the backseat, where sat the other, smiling at beating her sister this time to thank Dad for the dinner we had just enjoyed at the restaurant. The rules are: you can’t say it until we return home, the driveway counts, first to remember, wins. No […]
What We Give Away Lasts
What will I have when I come to the end of myself? Nothing, except all I’ve given away. Not, tossed to the four winds for others to scrape off the sidewalk, pluck out of the trees, or dig out from under. No, what will be is what I have left with others. Given to those […]
I’m on a co-Mission from God
Worth and pay are two very different concepts, especially if you’re in the service industry. In fact “service industry” seems an oxymoron to me. Serving, you do for worth. Industry you do for pay. The two seem mutually exclusive. I am forced to consider this as a writer and as an entrepreneur. I do what […]