Amongst birds, it apparently matters who you spend the night with. At sunset, I love to wander outdoors to hear the raucous and high-pitched chirping and squawking from the tops of trees. The brouhaha emits intense sounds and makes me laugh. I take great comfort in the birds’ busy squabbling. Animal research has found that

Why is it hard to find a good hairdresser? I want a simple “bob” haircut (longer on the sides than the shingled back), which seems to be fairly standard. But apparently not. When I meet a new stylist and make my request for a “bob,” most hem and haw and turn me over to someone

I walk around in the world considering that, at my essence, I’m equal to everyone else. Of course, I see that some people are smarter than me or more skilled, for example, at surgery or computer repair. However, in terms of basic human respect, I feel parity with others. We’re human, with all our joys

The other day, walking out my front door, I found myself glancing down to make sure my shirt was buttoned. Then I laughed. I’d caught myself doing one of Mom’s Sanity Checks. She always told me, “If you forget to button your blouse, that’s a sure sign you’re looney.” My mother passed away more than

At times, my life appeared to resemble an unfolding fern frond. An inner force pushed me to create and face hard challenges: a career teaching adults, public speaking, forming enduring relationships, becoming an exhibiting artist, child-raising, learning meditation and aspiring for enlightenment and founding two civil right organizations (the Ingraham-Garfield Student Exchange Program in 1964

I’m not always clever enough to comprehend other people’s inner realities at the moment I’m talking to them. But a recent incident astounded me. My adult son lives in a different city and I take great delight in visiting him.  He often takes me out with his friends for coffee, drinks, or a party. I’m

Twice in my life, I’ve stood above rainbows, looking down at them. Each occasion spawned different spiritual surprises Twenty years ago I hiked with my son’s sixth grade class in the mountains rising above a jungle valley called Manoa, a part of Honolulu. Known for its plentiful rainbows, we trod up the steep trail to

Throughout my long life, I thought I’d encountered every form of negative communication possible. Growing up with two older sisters, I early learned about anger, bullying and put-downs designed to shut up their much younger sibling who eternally wanted to be included. As a teen and young woman, I dated charmers who tried to pursue

In late spring and early summer of 2021, we felt optimism. Covid-19 was on the wane. We’d beat it. Stores reopened and people began to travel again. But when the Delta variant slammed us in the summer, we reluctantly began to wear masks and isolate more. Back to square one and back to the maelstrom