Month: September 2009

rethinking mental health

the robert wood johnson foundation has joined forces with ashoka’s changemakers to launch “rethinking mental health: improving community wellbeing”, a competition for new ideas and practices that challenge the status quo in terms of how we think about and address mental health care needs. the foundation invites you to join this important conversation and put… Continue reading rethinking mental health

what poem opens your heart?

after the post on happy questions last friday, i decided to ask some happy questions on twitter and it was a wonderful weekend conversation. you can find most of it by searching for #happyquestion on twitter. one of the questions was inspired by qrystal, one of the first people i ever followed on twitter (it… Continue reading what poem opens your heart?

10 happy questions

as you know, questions have a special place in my heart (see this post on encouraging questions, for example.) as i was preparing for a little workshop i facilitated today on solution focused coaching and counselling, i realized that my first discovery of the power of questions was not back in 1999, when i first… Continue reading 10 happy questions

haibun

early this year, i discovered haibun (through a blog whose name i forgot, unfortunately).   it is a japanese form of writing which can but does not have to have all the following characteristics: contains one or two haiku tends to focus on everyday experience somewhere between 100 and 300 words descriptive terse, poetic prose slightly… Continue reading haibun

invisible

invisible illnesses are, by definition, not seen. there are two parts to this: the (un)seen, and the (non)seer. i’m not sure that invisible illnesses are in fact invisible. the man with chronic pain sits on his bed at 3:00 am, a gun in his mouth, ready to pull the trigger. he makes sure his wife… Continue reading invisible

soul music from a piano’s underbelly

soft, these sounds steal again into my heart. how’d he do it? he played on the piano like he knew all about our souls. this is a little tanka – a short japanese poem – i wrote after listening to the CD of the wonderful sounds craig addy created when my friend and soulmate haedy… Continue reading soul music from a piano’s underbelly

buddhist carnival – september 2009 edition

welcome to the september edition of the buddhist carnival, where we showcase treasures from the buddhasphere. today we have compassion and helping hands, cockcroaches, sleep, returning to the centre and a bunch of (no)selves. as always, let’s start off with a poem: we dance around in a ring and suppose; but the secret sits in… Continue reading buddhist carnival – september 2009 edition