About Me
I'm joining Service Space because ... the world isn't going to fix itself!
A good day to me is when ... I remember that it's always a *good* day no matter what.
My hero in life is ...all of you.
My favorite book is ...the one I'm writing next.
One thing I'm grateful for is ... the ability to feel gratitude.
Caring For Ourselves By Tending To The World
Nov 16, 2020, 3 comments, 16 smiles
[In a recent Pod, I was reminded of this experience and this reflection came up for me. If ever there was a time to deeply consider how we balance the self with all else, it's right now!]
A few years ago I was on a road trip to visit old friends in New York. Entering the highway, I saw smoke out of the corner of my eye, immediately identifying the source as a vehicle that had slipped off the other side of the road. Instinctively, I pulled over and ran across four lanes of traffic, leaving my own car running with the door open. Arriving at the scene, the other car had rolled over and two men were trapped in it, and the vehicle was smoldering. Another motorist had stopped to help, and then another. Without many words between us, we managed to pry the window out of the passenger door, ... Read Full Story
Lost ... And Found
Jun 27, 2019, 5 smiles
For some reason, I keep coming back to the idea that if we don't get lost we can't really find our way. Maybe it's because I get lost a lot! More likely it's a reminder that however lost we get, we're always connected.
This story takes place in central Florida, where I recently had an open day (due to a workshop cancellation); it's very hot here in the summer (obviously) and I wasn't relishing a meaningless day in the concrete jungle of a massive college campus. Instead of grousing or escaping into "electron land," I decided to get out and walk/run around the campus to see what I might find. My hope was that maybe I would locate actual edible food somewhere...
But I found something even more interesting than that. A small picnic table tucked against a tree about 20 yards off the concrete pathway drew my attention away from the ... Read Full Story
Strangers Stopping Strangers
Jun 21, 2019, 2 comments, 5 smiles
So this is a true story, improbable as it may seem (the best ones are always like that!). I wish I could make up things this inspirational...
A couple of years ago I was driving across the Arizona desert on I-40, heading from the central highlands to Las Vegas to catch a flight back east. I'd driven this stretch many times before (having lived in the desert for almost 20 years), but a few years on the east coast must have dulled my desert survival instincts, which became apparent on this journey.
The landscape I was traversing is beautiful and foreboding all at once; it draws you in, even as it casts you out. I suppose this sense of being lulled in might explain how I made the critical mistake of gambling on a rental car dashboard gauge and running out of gas in the middle of nowhere (literally, there's a town ... Read Full Story
All Power To The Imagination...
Jun 17, 2019, 2 comments, 9 smiles
A few weeks ago, I found this old wheelbarrow abandoned and headed for the landfill, so I brought it home to see if it could find a second life.
My 5-year-old daughter and I wound up rehabbing it in the garage with random spare parts, and now it proudly lives next to our chicken coop. It even wheels, and sometimes helps with light work around the yard.
Someone recently asked how we fixed it, and before I could answer them my daughter said, "I know! We fixed it with ... imagination!"
Which, even after 20 years of teaching college classes, is pretty much the best response I've ever heard to an end-of-semester question...
I guess this feels like it should be a metaphor for something larger (feel free to fill in what that might be), but the real story is just that it works!
