My local Starbucks posted a sticker on the front door the other day that reads: "TAKE COMFORT IN RITUALS." The slogan got me thinking about the things in my life that border on ritualistic - my Matins and Vigils, Christmas decorations, tying yellow ribbons around old oak trees, and so on. What purpose do they …
Continue reading Take comfort in rituals but don’t stop there!
I saw two documentaries on the Anaconda, those infamous boas of the genus Eunectes. The first was a nature show that identified the Anaconda as one of the twenty deadliest critters on earth. The second, in stark contrast, featured a husband/wife team of scientists who walk through the swamps of South America (barefoot!) in order …
You may accuse me of becoming a fuddy-duddy and I'm sure I deserve the title in more ways than one, but it seems to me that Western culture, known for its materialistic roots, is becoming increasingly dependent on the drug of instant gratification. When I was young, email, online shopping, Twitter, Facebook and so many …
Shibumi is a Japanese word that refers to a particular aesthetic of simple, subtle and unobtrusive beauty. It can be used to describe a person, place or thing, naturally occurring or man-made. I love to observe and photograph shibumi and below you will find a few of the more spectacular manifestations I have been privileged to witness. …
"The world is a stage, but the play is badly cast." ~ Oscar Wilde From whence cometh humanity? Have you given much thought to that question? Are we the result of chance or divine order or as with most alternate of choice questions, are the heavily marketed options masking the truth of the matter? Whatever …
Continue reading The invisible made visible: It’s what you do!
If you haven't yet had the chance to listen to education scientist Sugata Mitra talk about his "Hole in the Wall" experiments, you're in for a treat. If you have, you'll no doubt find this presentation filmed at TedGlobal 2010 to be chock-full of implications. How information is stored has a tremendous shaping influence on …
Continue reading Human Ingenuity and the Future of Education
As a follow up to my previous post on the matter of learning to work more effectively with others, Time to Think, I'd like to share a quote from the book of the same name, written by Nancy Kline. Ms. Kline described why it is so vitally important not to interrupt others while in a …
I stumbled across an interesting thought while giving some thought this morning to two of my favorite forms of exercise, pilates and horseback riding. It became clear to me that both of these activities measure progress in similar ways: advancement requires increasingly less coarse or jerky movement. In fact, greater control translates into finer movement …
Between the shoulders of summer and fall lies my favorite 'tween' season. The bugs are less common in the cooler evening air while the biological clocks of the furry animals signal a coat change in preparation for the winter to come. The days, in the Great South anyway, continue to impart their only slightly diminished chaleur …
I've observed over the years that people tend to be happiest when they are being productive. That said, the balance between labor and rest is one that strikes me as particularly important. This balance is an elusive one as most people who are productive tend to be "go-getters" or "Type A" personalities, famous for their …
Gregory Hake 