Silence is a beautiful adventure. We start out craving silence when the noise of our minds, the direction of our personal story, becomes unbearable. Replacing the noise with a practice of silence is not the true adventure; rather, we must go spelunking. We must dive into the depths and explore. I we...

It is a beautiful thing, when pain of separation arises, to let go of owning it. Treat it like a jewel a friend has shown you. Hold it. Examine it. Place it in your heart and let it glow. See that the intensity of what burns is the same as the love for it; And the Love for […]...

I thought I had left the misty rains behind in the Pacific Northwest, but they were perfectly welcomed. They rolled in a precious silence and solitude to the trails this morning. The quenched leaves of trees were so vibrant, their greens became as loud as their shouts to surrender thoughts for a...

I went out for a short hike this morning. It was my first walk after a rainfall since I’ve been here. Changed from the dusty warmth I was used to, there was a rich red hue to the damp earth, footsteps had less crunch to them, and lazy clouds slept on my mountains. There was no me on most [&hel...

It has been a rainy morning, with misty drizzles and heavier downpours alternating visits; so I stayed in to have a quiet day of meditation. Apart from a few months of time meditating in a mountain forest (such a precious forest, which embraced and wind-swept the younger me with love), I never h...

Having grown up in Canada, and gotten used to Thanksgiving in October, I had nothing special planned yesterday for my first American Thanksgiving. I didn’t even take a moment to stop and think about what I was thankful for. Instead, that was for today. It was another lovely day in Ojai, so I deci...

Today I walked the trails again, as I do most mornings. It was a beautiful day, with a calm stillness infusing every rock, shrub, breathe of air, and happily hopping cricket. The sky was a pure, cloudless blue, so vibrant that one glance could quickly remove any over-trodden trail of aimless th...

I was feeling the isolation of Ojai last night and this morning; the isolation one feels when moving to a new town, knowing no one, and here, amplified by the smallness of Ojai. Another day another hike. I went out this morning and as I walked, the filter of thoughts tinted everything. The trail was...

I went for a hike in the hills today. I marveled at how bright the sky was and the sections cordoned off by wispy suggestions of past planes. At one point I stopped at the base of a steep mountain and looked straight up and suddenly I was not there. The rocky earth and gentle blue looked […...

Inspired by someone to try the Green Card lottery, I signed up last year and won! It has been an exciting few months as I readied my documents, went to the interview, and after a bout of nervous excitement, got through. The day at the border filling out paperwork was exhausting, yet thrilling. Whe...