Holidays by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow The holiest of all holidays are thoseKept by ourselves in silence and apart;The secret anniversaries of the heart,When the full river of feeling overflows;–The happy days unclouded to their close;The sudden joys that out of darkness startAs flames from ashes; swift desires that dartLike swallows singing down each wind that blows!White …Read More
Blog
Character of the Happy Warrior ~ William Wordsworth
Character of the Happy Warrior ~ by William Wordsworth Who is the happy Warrior? Who is he That every man in arms should wish to be? —It is the generous Spirit, who, when brought Among the tasks of real life, hath wrought Upon the plan that pleased his boyish thought: Whose high endeavours are an …Read More
Thanksgiving Day Blessings
God is good.God is great.Let us thank him for our food.Amen. I grew up with this children’s prayer to bless the food that I ate. It’s short and easy to remember. Today, I remember those moments of grace. We joined hands as a family, took a moment out of time to be grateful, and asked …Read More
Can you Exorcise Depression? ~ Andrew Solomon
“Spirits leave me alone to complete the business of my life and know that I’ll never forget you.” Andrew Solomon’s long battle with depression first brought him to traditional Western medicine with medication and counseling. As a writer, this struggle led him to research treatments in other parts of the world. He tells a colorful …Read More
Take Your Medicine Wheel
“You have noticed that everything an Indian does is in a circle. That is because the power of the world always works in circles, and everything tries to be round. The sky is round, and I have heard that the earth is round like a ball, and so are all the stars. The wind, in …Read More
Morning Prayer ~ John O’Donohue
Matins ~Morning Prayer Poem by John O’Donohue 1Somewhere, out at the edges, the nightIs turning and the waves of darknessBegin to brighten the shore of dawn The heavy dark falls back to earthAnd the freed air goes wild with light,The heart fills with fresh, bright breathAnd thoughts stir to give birth to color. 2I arise …Read More
I See Dead People ~ Dr. Christopher Kerr
“Medical training is about learning to defy death, when you can’t defy it, deny it, or avoid it.” Dr. Christopher Kerr, MD, found comfort in the avoidance of death until his career path inevitably led him to hospice. As a hospice doctor, he cares for those at the end of life. He has found that …Read More
Call for “Stories in Medicine”
The practice of medicine struggles with the often conflicting perspectives of healing, marketing, and money. How can we explore the stories in medicine? The frame of storytelling offered by Annette Simmons in The Story Factor describes six types of stories of influence: who am I, why am I here, vision, teaching, values, and elephant in the …Read More
Release & Renewal ~ New Year’s Retreat 2020
“Beautiful experience allowing you to dive inwards and pull up what allows us to truly grow…” ~J.V., New York About a decade ago, I had what I like to call my early early pre-pre-pre-mid-life crisis. (There have been a few others since.) Endless loops of thought. “Is this what I should be doing? Is this …Read More
#31: Spirit of the Shamanic Drum (Stephen Cavitt)
“What we are hungry for in the Western world is a reanimation of spirit.” ~ Prof. Stephen Cavitt The shaman enters the dream-like state to bring back wisdom, guidance, and healing. There are many ways to navigate the multiple layers of reality. One of those ways is the drum. Many shamanic traditions use the hypnotic …Read More