quotes Archives - Page 2 of 32

Brené Brown’s Life Changing Question: Do You Believe People Are Doing the Best They Can?

When Brené Brown asked herself, ‘Do you believe people are doing the best they can? ‘ she admits to answering ‘Fuck no!’ until she explored it further, which yielded pure, transformative gold.

A Modern Mantra That Helps Frame Difficulty and Change

Lately, we’ve found ourselves saying an unusual mantra when we hit difficult situations. It affords an instant, very interesting shift of view, as do the lovely flower mandalas we stumbled upon about the same time.

Oscar Murillo: Airplane Seat as Art Studio, Flight as a Sacred ‘Other’ Space

Columbian artist Oscar Murillo’s view of his singular seat on a airplane flight as a sacrad studio space will change your view of air travel.

Lessons in Stillness and Quiet, with Mitch Epstein’s Astonishing Trees

At first, we only visited the New York Times “Lessons in Stillness from One of the Quiestest Places on Earth” because we wanted to see Mitch Epstein’s remarkable photographs of trees. But then, the story called us…

Henry Miller and Others on the “Finest Medicine a Person Can Give Himself”

When we came across this quote from novelist Henry Miller, we thought, yes that IS some of the most powerful medicine we know.

Reading W.S. Merwin’s ‘Rain Light’ in Dappled Sunlight, We Were Amazed to Learn What ‘Dappled’ Is

When we stumbled on this lovely way to read Rain Light by W.S. Merwin, it took our breath away for a moment as we rode on the New York City subway…Then we read Edward Tufte’s explanation of what “dappled” is…

Yoko Ono’s Instruction for Mending (Cup, Self, Family, Earth…)

Yoko Ono’s 1966 lovely “Mend Piece” is a participatory installation that, like many Ono works, comes with instructions designed to resonate personally, meaningfully, expansively…

Oliver Sack’s On Meeting an Orangutan at the Toronto Zoo

One of the most remarkable stories in the late Oliver Sacks’ posthumously published book is about Sacks’ unexpected meeting with an orangutan while visiting the zoo. It describes Sacks “”a brilliant singularity”: his ability for showing us the big fat gifts to be found in the everyday. Perfection in 274 words.

Alex Soth and Richard Long on What Can Be Made From the Process of Moving Through the World

At his instagram, photographer Alex Soth posted a beautiful little video of a rock rolling down a path, an homage to artist Richard Long’s work, who mightily inspired an interesting view…

The Secret Language of Trees via Animated Drawings And Richard Power’s Wondrous Novel

Through charming animated drawings, forestry experts Camille Defrenne and Suzanne Simard explain how trees communicate with one another. Novelist Richard Powers tells it another way in The Overstory.

A Transformative Word from the Ottoman Empire on How to Have the Abundance of Life…

Recently, I revisited the remarkable sign that waits at the threshold of Omega Institute’s serene meditation space in the woods, to ponder a single word…

Varieties of YES: A Zen View, John Cage, Mary Oliver, James Joyce and the Katz’s Deli Orgasm

On the 30-year anniversary* of Meg Ryan’s perfection of a faked orgasm in Katz’s Deli, we’ve been thinking about great, transformative yeses we’ve written about or experienced.

Yayoi Kusama Transforms Obsession and Accumulation into Art and Medicine

For decades nintey-year-old artist Yayoi Kusama has embraced the culturally taboo practices of obsession and accumulation, using them as a means of transformation and healing. Her remarkable “art medicine” has been her balm for mental illness.

Beatrice Wood’s Mistakes “Like Pebbles That Make a Good Road”, with Sculptor Richard Long

When we heard centenarian ceramic artist Beatrice Wood’s extraordinary view of the mistakes she made in life, we thought of the work of artist Richard Long…

Mind-Breath-Nature Mashup Helps Navigate Chaos or Difficulty

Employing wisdom from Pema Chodrun, Dr. Weil and Oliver Sacks, we devised an amazingly effective strategy for navigating upheaval and difficulty

Pamela Adlon on Aging as Content and Allen Ginsberg Just Being Content

Pamela Adlon’s riff on aging and the sudden changes of her body got us thinking about the need to turn ourselves into content to accept ourselves. Then we came upon Allen Ginsberg’s view.

Oliver Sacks: Nature is a Therapy More Powerful Than Medication

An essay in a posthumously published book by the very wise Oliver Sacks gives a scientist’s view of the healing power of Nature and gardens.

Taking a Break to Do Nothing Is Necessary for Doing Something

When ideas and energy feel mired and writing becomes daunting and bogged down, I take the kind of time Jennifer Odell wrote about so incisively in her amazing piece,’how to do nothing’.

Running With Wild Horses Redux (Commentary by Virginia Wolfe)

This video of horses galloping in the Camargue gains even great meaning with these words from Virginia Wolfe.

Want to Be a Digital Story Teller or Launch an App or Product? Join Me at Omega Institute’s Digital Age Conference

This coming June, I will be leading a workshop at Omega Institute’s Build Your Audience in the Digital Age Conference which will cover the how-to’s of creating digital products, from blogs to apps to online courses to newsletters, at Omega’s extraordinary, always transformative campus.

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