“Here’s the difference between you and me,” he said propping his feet on the footstool. “You’re there in front of your ‘easel’ dying because you’ve messed up your canvas. “ He paused, “I messed up my canvas too, but I’m just putting a layer of white paint over the top and painting something new… I’m…
Author: Within the River
Running Toward the Rubble: A Paradox
This afternoon I had intended to post something different. However, the events of this week have led me to change those plans. This afternoon is one for mourning, remembering, and honoring our friends still weathering the storm in Oklahoma. Dear friends in Oklahoma, we are pained by the loss and devastation you have faced so…
Leaving a Trace
“It is paradoxical, but profoundly true that the most certain way for people to bring hope, help, meaning, and joy to their own lives is by reaching out and bringing hope, help, meaning and joy to the lives of others.” – Dan Zadra At ANASAZI, we strive to walking gently upon Mother Earth. This means…
Smooth Sailing
Two of my favorite students and their five siblings were raised on a small sailboat, the Liahona, somewhere between Florida, Jamaica, and Puerto Rico. They didn’t have a house, just a spot at the dock now and again. Admittedly, I loved their essays about the colors of a childhood at sea. Who doesn’t want to…
Will You Sit With Me?
“I found it shelter to speak to you” – Emily Dickenson Today I simply want to share a passage that matters, a few questions, and one of my treasures from Anasazi. All of them center on the powerful gift of listening. A few years ago, I ended up with a copy of a book called…
The Kindness of Strangers
If you only have three minutes, click and listen to this from NPR’s Story Corp. A Victim Treats His Mugger Right. You’ll never forget it. I’ve been thinking about strangers – the hundreds of people I pass, walk alongside of, and share roads and air and space in my world with every day. I don’t…
The Red Book
I want to tell you about my most valuable possession – my Red Book. Actually, it’s an accounting ledger book circa 1979. Tall and thin, the 12” ledger never seemed to fit well in a bookshelf. The corners are a little bent and scuffed. The binding is loose. The edges of the cover are beginning…
Visions, Violins, and the Landfill of Cateura
The world sends us garbage, we send back music.” – Favio Chavez, Orchestra Leader Cateura, Paraguay is a city built on a landfill. The nearly 25,000 families there, who live in deep poverty, rely on garbage picking to stay alive. With their children, they rummage for something they might recycle or sell in the 1500…
The Orange Principle
It’s the height of orange season here in Arizona. Wherever you are, I hope that you’ve been the beneficiary of one of these beauties. Because, let’s face it, there is no pleasure quite like partaking of a perfect orange. The moment you peel it, when that sweet mist hits the air, you know it. …