This blog started with Fatberry. He was my cat, a faithful and beautiful friend who brightened my days and surrounded me with love. In 2020, he was hospitalized two times – and miraculously survived both times. Following the second hospitalization, I was filled with a sense that there was meaning to be made from these… Continue reading Fatberry
Next to plants and oceans and mountains, animals are one of the best things the planet has going on. I love animals; I am one myself. But as you know if you’ve read even a handful of my essays, I also love non-human animals – cats in particular, but really, they are all great. You… Continue reading Animal Lives
Life is way too short for thinking small thoughts. Work worries are small thoughts. Episodes of HGTV are small thoughts. Being depressed about what other people think of you – that’s a small thought. If you’re ever down, get into some science. If you’re ever in a place of losing perspective altogether, get into some… Continue reading Thinking Big Thoughts
Today during my meditation, I burst into tears. This is actually really common for me. When I sit down, and get quiet, and let whatever feelings arise that are there to feel, I’m usually overwhelmed emotionally in some way. Big feelings. Love for my cat. Gratitude for the kindness of a friend who wants to… Continue reading Solidity
I’ve been breathing for a long time. I learned this to my surprise in about 2018. The only times I noticed the breath, and I wasn’t even really noticing the breath, was when I was smoking or exercising (which I did only briefly in 2002). When I started meditating, I held grimly onto the breath,… Continue reading 24/7 Friend
What a gift DNA is. The spark of life is a great start, proteins that can replicate themselves. But without a way to change and evolve, there would be no douglas firs, or great white sharks, or dragonflies, just molecules copying…somehow. Maybe that’s what life looks like on other planets. But we, the species of… Continue reading Under Pressure
Distraction is powerfully addictive. Some distractions feel like paying attention. Some distractions feel like flow. But they are not real in the same way this room is real, or my cat is real, or the breath is real, or my mom is real, or a forest is real. For my whole life, TV has been… Continue reading An Analog Message on a Digital Platform
