by Dawn | Apr 22, 2013 | business, family, martial arts, nature, parenting, politics, satire, Teaching, Zen
“Mom!” “What?” “Can I borrow five bucks?” “You’re five. What do you need five bucks for?” “My Junior Bow.” We went to the Bass Pro Shop about a month ago. We passed by the hunting section. I wandered in...
by Dawn | Apr 8, 2013 | family, food, leadership, nature, organization, politics, satire, self-improvement, simplicity, sustainability, Teaching, wellness
The snow has melted. There is a really loud bird singing outside the window. Crocuses poke through the dirt, and the Yankees just got clobbered by the Red Sox–it’s spring. Time for growing stuff. This weekend, we constructed the garden. At the old house,...
by Dawn | Mar 27, 2013 | family, gratitude, leadership, motivation, nature, self-improvement, simplicity, social justice, spirituality, Teaching, wellness, Zen
There is a story that runs over and over again in many different forms called “Footprints.” It’s about a person walking in the sand with God. You see the footprints. Two sets of footprints, and then, at times, just one. The person laments to God,...
by Dawn | Feb 25, 2013 | education reform, gratitude, leadership, motivation, nature, self-improvement, simplicity, spirituality, Teaching
Driving down the road, I see a flock of birds in the sky. A flock of about 150 birds. So many birds, it’s like a giant cloud, except there is so much more grace and beauty. They sail on the wind–all flying together. Changing directions, zigzagging. In...
by Dawn | Feb 15, 2013 | gratitude, martial arts, motivation, nature, self-improvement, simplicity
I was looking at a picture of bamboo. I love bamboo. I have spent so many hours painting it. In my sumi-e practice, I have painted a million bamboo plants. In the beginning, I thought this was insane repetition. In Western schools you don’t sit and write the...
by Dawn | Feb 5, 2013 | education reform, gratitude, nature, simplicity, spirituality, Teaching
It’s 4AM. The middle of the night for some, and I have just been presented with a question about the vastness of the universe for further consideration. These are the moments when dialogue sparks up in the stillness of the night when no five-year old intuitively...
