Ways of Seeing: Gatherings bring peace of mind

I’d spent far too many hours scrolling through news items, podcasts, emails, and other missives that had at bottom the same message: This country is in trouble. I don’t disagree.

Recently, my cell phone stopped receiving texts and phone calls. Because I have a landline, I was able to call my service provider to get help. Like most telecommunications company, mine offers an online knowledge base and a chat feature, but I wanted to … (read more)

My goal for this column was to not write about election outcomes. Yet, I’m experiencing the pink elephant paradox: No matter how hard I try not to think about the results, they permeate my thoughts.

A few weeks ago, I attended All Souls Interfaith Gathering in Shelburne because I was intrigued by the focus of the service, “Jubilee for the Earth.”

Three years ago, I joined Goodreads’ annual reading challenge. Since then, I’ve read between 65 and 100 books a year. Frequently, I randomly choose books, then find that their topics are connected, like Camille Dungy’s memoir “Soil: The Story of a Black M … (read more)

Recently, I got the urge to listen to Marvin Gaye’s album “What’s Going On?” I’m fortunate enough to own the CD and, yes, I still have a CD player.

A few weeks ago, I read a New York Times article that both intrigued and annoyed me: “Vermont May Be the Face of a Long-Term U.S. Labor Shortage.”

I’m an introvert, a term I embrace with pride, though I didn’t always see this trait as positive. Throughout my life, I’ve heard people refer to me as “quiet,” in a tone suggesting I have a terminal illness or that I’m hiding something.

In the few months that I’ve been a volunteer at the Lawrence Memorial Library, I’ve realized that many of my activities require using tape: Scotch tape, binding tape, that wide tape I call “gorilla tape” because it’s relentless (once in place, it cannot b … (read more)

As someone who finds it hard to nap, resting as a practice is a revolutionary and challenging act, but during the holiday season I gave myself that gift.

Emotions aren’t just internal; they are shared with others and can influence others. In other words, they have a social function.

For several years, one of the assignments for my Community College of Vermont students has been to explore the concept of war and the possibility of world peace.

For the past few years, I’ve had an aversion to the word “productive” or any terminology that hints at it.

I never realized how much faith and patience I had until I’d harvested my first crop of garlic over twenty years ago when I lived in Charlotte.

My summer tires were switched over to winter ones on a warm, sunny December morning. It was one of those days that made me forget that it had snowed a few weeks earlier and that I was welcoming the warm breeze on my face while standing in front of Heffern … (read more)