The summer heat in Arizona was at its peak as extended family gathered together to celebrate Grandma Perry’s hundredth birthday. True to form, she fully enjoyed being the center of attention in her bright red dress with an over-sized, white lace collar. She had been quite sickly early in her life and had almost died in her thirties, but she had gone on to live a full and healthy, not to mention long, life. It seemed to all of us…..
One day on my lunch break I was at Shoreline Park watching a young seagull perched on a picnic table a few feet away. Perfectly still except for his soft, brown feathers ruffling in the breeze, he gazed at me for a long time. I thought about the Eastern concept of darshan—the sight of a holy person. Just being in the presence of a Master, a highly evolved being, we receive grace. When they open their eyes and their gaze…..
Here in Hawaii, many people are living off the grid. They have opted to jump off the treadmill of their lives on the mainland and live the ultimate simple existence. For some I have met, they woke up to the fact they had been driving themselves into the ground just to support their upscale lifestyle, selling their souls to a stressful and unfulfilling career. When they asked themselves if it was worth it, they found the answer was no. We…..
That November day back in 1963 began just like any other day. I was sitting at my desk in the back of Mr. Martin’s seventh grade Spanish class. It was still a time of innocence then—especially for someone like me growing up in a small town in a conservative family. My parents would dress up every Friday night for their square dance class—Mom in her full skirt and Dad…I don’t remember what he wore. But they both went out the…..