The War on Dishes

  I clean this teapot with the kind of attention I would have, were I giving the baby Buddha or Jesus a bath. Nothing should be treated more carefully than anything else. In mindfulness, compassion, irritation, mustard green plant, and teapot are all sacred.    -Tich Nhat Hanh   My daughter and I were in a…

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Yoga, Buddhism, and Literary Citizenship

Literary citizenship is a term that has been around for at least a decade or so. I first encountered the term within The Business of Being a Writer by Jane Friedman, although Jane credits Rod Spillman, a cofounder of the literary magazine Tin House, for coining the term. No matter who originated the term, I…

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Writing into Wellness: Turning from Career towards Vocation

Recently my vocation turned away from career towards writing. Despite my company’s support with workplace accommodations, in 2021 I stopped working altogether, due to worsening and persistent symptoms from Multiple Sclerosis (MS). I could no longer manage the pace, or the intensity of my job as a Vocational Rehabilitation Counsellor, so I went from being…

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