There are certain things that have a particular timing, pace or rhythm that is not negotiable… things like sunsets, tides, seasons, and in today’s case, clarity and healing.

I’ve taken some time off from teaching due to an RA flare…

This Sunday, November 9, is Global Grace Day… an international day of inner and outer reconciliation, peace, and hope for a future free of avoidable suffering. It’s also the 36th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. And, completely…

Finally!!!

As the mornings get ever darker in the Fall, I personally cannot wait to get back to real time… Standard Time… time derived from the rising and setting of the sun. Time that correlates to the evolution, over millennia…

I had planned to be out of town this weekend, but at the last minute, I changed my mind. Yes, I could have cleaned my house (I hate coming home to a messy house), packed my car, and driven to…

Just being outside has been my respite lately. I find myself talking (and listening) to trees and birds and insects... anything alive actually. And also water and clouds and the sky and stars too. Somehow, it's been keeping things in…

What's good for your brain, reduces stress, and is always available to anyone, anywhere, for free? 

I'm talking about Play! Being silly is not just for kids (or humans, for that matter.) Research shows play throughout life increases mental wellness,…

Lately, I've found myself feeling as if the whole world is burning down around me. There's a whole lot of uncertainty, anxiety and suffering happening out there, from the personal to the political. The things I got accustomed to rely…

Resting is essential for optimal learning to occur.

Yes, you can just push through and keep chugging along... but if these classes have taught you anything, then you know about the nature of diminishing returns. That's why I schedule…

Since I last wrote I have been sick.

I left my house for a weekend visit with friends, and I ended up unable to make the 6 hour drive back home. I was convalescing for 2 weeks. Meanwhile, it stormed…

Winter sunrises are magical.

First of all, they happen late enough that I have time to get out to see them happen.

Second, the gradual growing and emergence of light builds it's own sense of suspense, turning to awe once…

I'm headed to Temple University to visit the Masters of Landscape Architecture program as part of an LAAB accreditation team. I volunteered for this back in spring, before I had a new puppy and before I felt the end of…

For folks to coexist harmoniously within community, we need rules of interaction, but I'd like to throw politeness out the door and replace it with authentic kindness.

Too much emphasis is placed on caring what other people might think. What…

I have been distracted lately with taking on more work, more social activities, agreeing to more volunteer tasks, plus a new puppy! Being constantly busy can be fun for a while and wonderfully distracting, and eventually exhausting, leading to lack…

I think the moon was in cancer or some planet was in retrograde because it was a tough week, and not just for me, but most everyone I know. Fortunately I've got a favorite tree, a big old giant ash…

I don't know about you but up here in central NY it’s feeling like summertime. That means lake swimming, ice cream eating, long light-filled days, and sparkly firefly evenings.

When the outside world gets overwhelming (like lately), it’s more important…

I am back from a magical and integrative Portugal adventure!

I learned a lot about healing landscapes, both internal and external, which I plan to practice on the land I'm stewarding in Central NY. I also learned a surprising amount…

It's not what I asked for, but I'm finding myself learning to navigate all this space that has opened up in my new life without a pup to hospice. One thing that's oh so tempting is to just mindlessly fill…

Sometimes the obstacle that's keeping you from moving forward is behind you. It's an anchor, keeping you in place despite efforts to move, change, or flow.

I realized recently that what was challenging me was myself… holding on to my…

Each breath is a gift given and received.

With each breath we literally are connecting our internal and external worlds. We take in the atmosphere around us, and we give back body-warmed air. We keep the oxygen gifted by plants…

Can you feel it? The planets are in retrograde!

Retrograde means the planet appears to move backwards in the sky, as earth passes it on our orbit around the sun.

I say I don't really believe in astrology, but…

Living in a body with RA has taught me a lot about the limits of force and the usefulness of surrender. 

I used to think surrender meant losing, failure, quitting, a total collapse of will and effort… something to be…

Sometimes I find myself thinking about all the stuff I need that I don't have, or feeling like I'm lacking, or impoverished, and that I need more. I call this scarcity thinking.

The idea of scarcity is what drives the…

The world is changing around us at an alarmingly fast rate. 20 years ago, I was drawn to landscape architecture because I believed through this discipline, I could help protect nature and connect people to the environment and each other. 

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The mind and body are an integrated mobius strip which influence one another. How we move changes how we think, and recent neuroscience explains this interconnection in ever increasing clarity. As designers, we can integrate this information into our professional…

Listening is necessary to connect, communicate and understand. To listen, we must find quiet... and that takes time. In a culture where time is often perceived as scarce and is equated with money, taking time is an act of defiance…