Moving Beyond Disdain
We had argued about politics; she argued for the Right and I for the Left. But during that argument I had seen something that I’d never seen in her before. She became very fearful and protective of herself; her energy became like that of a threatened animal: cagey, guarded, walking on figurative tip-toe around the opponent.
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Left-wing, Right-wing: Both Are Needed to Fly?
I understand what it is to be timid and insecure. I spent a lot of time there, especially when I was younger, and a fair bit of that lives in me still. But I’ve learned that everyone needs some mettle to negotiate this world.
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Whisperings
Learn from the guy who fixed your lawnmower, the friend tuning his guitar, the dental student. They value themselves enough to take the time, do it right, and savor the journey.
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One Hell of a Worm
My friend and I decided to rescue it. He had a pen knife, and with it, he reached carefully for the rope that was hanging from the fish’s gill. I held the other end of the rope, in front of its mouth. He cut the rope close to the gill and held the tail while I slowly, gently pulled the rope out of the fish’s mouth. As soon as my friend let go of the tail, the fish whipped into action and disappeared into the water. We were heroes, and the children cheered. That afternoon I decided to drop two classes and postpone my graduation for another term.
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How Long Does It Take To Make a Mountain?
I looked outside and watched the moonlit world heaving and pitching, watched the split rail fence in front of me rocking to roughly the same chaotic rhythm as the room behind me, and the door frame in my hands. Sometimes, during very traumatic moments in our lives, we remember bizarre details. I noticed my hand on the door frame and my arm trembling, and slowly became aware that my whole body was doing that.
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Callicoon Creek
The sky seemed more blue, the grass, greener in the evening, before all nature turned to rest.
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Through the Rear View Mirror
I quickly grabbed her arm as she listed out the door and toward the pavement. She made no effort to stop falling but hung limply in my grasp. With my one hand wrapped around Jessie’s wrist and the other steering, I rounded the corner and pulled into a parking lot.
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The Zen of Suffering
In fact, they tell us that each of us harbors within, the basest and most sublime, no exceptions; that the most heinous criminal is no more than our yesterday, and the noblest and most exalted among us is no less than our tomorrow
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Professor Kwitz
It seems the same energy goes into road rage, railing against the damn Republicans, bad report cards, racism, sexism, homophobia, religious persecution and self-persecution. They say some days you’re the windshield and some days, the bug.
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