By Maryanne DeLeo It’s been in my life eight years, its color long ago used up, hints of it along the walls of its gold, shiny black expensive case. Every day I dip my slender lip brush inside to get a speck of color onto my unpainted lips. Selected by a painter, “which lipstick would … Continue reading Barcelona Red
The Waves
By Jill Jepson Sunday mornings without fail, my parents packed us into the car and drove us to mass. Sacred Heart Church was just three blocks from our house, but still we drove, to make sure we arrived fresh and perfect, we girls in our prettiest dresses, little hats, short white gloves, and Sunday shoes—white … Continue reading The Waves
Sun Tzu and Entertainment: The Land Before Time’s “Easy Route”
By Andrew Nickerson Many classics have achieved long-lasting fame/influence, but it’s hard to find any such document with the track record of Sun Tzu’s The Art of War, a masterpiece that’s been the text on tactics/strategy for 2,000+ years. In its pages can be found the blueprints for victory, the lone goal of any war, … Continue reading Sun Tzu and Entertainment: The Land Before Time’s “Easy Route”
Facing Death: Fear and Gifts
By C. Graham Campbell, Ph.D As a Buddhist leaning spiritual student, I wish I could tell you that looking death in the eye was a choice motivated solely because that is an important part of the path. Unfortunately, that would be less than honest. An onslaught of health issues between 2015 and 2023 required it. … Continue reading Facing Death: Fear and Gifts
The Friend
By Sharon Farnsworth And the race begins. Another Friday afternoon, and city traffic was horrific. I picked up my son from daycare and joined the throng of manic drivers, my thoughts racing faster than the traffic was moving. Forty plus hours as a Probation Officer, and I was on overload. The windshield wipers whacking the glass in a … Continue reading The Friend
The Blue-Schist Sentinels
By Celeste Wolfe Night after night, a quartet of prehistoric megaliths stand as blue-schist sentinels, on guard since the ancient era of dinosaurs into the digital era of modernity. The foursome’s enduring foundations with their unyielding weight, cutting deep into the earth, arise as if shrapnel protruding from a wound. Their stone polished faces like … Continue reading The Blue-Schist Sentinels
Rose Garden Refuge
By Sarah Brennan I remained on the bench until it was no longer cold, long after my breathing regained its normal rhythms, and my tears had stopped flowing. Around me the garden was calm and quiet, but my mind still raced. I kept replaying the three days in March when my world changed. The teachers … Continue reading Rose Garden Refuge
My Sand Mandala
By Ryan Larson Buddhist monks have a unique ritual of creating, I think, the most vibrant and visually stunning work of art ever. They place sand of many colors on a table together in a design that looks like what you would see on a Persian rug. The accuracy can be measured by millimeters, and … Continue reading My Sand Mandala
Retail Therapist
By Kit Stookey I stood facing my bathroom mirror, putting on my face for work. I blended my foundation into my neckline, my blush into my foundation, my emotions into dust. My manicured eyebrows were bold enough to keep with the trends, but not so bold to look “mannish.” My mom marveled at how closely … Continue reading Retail Therapist
The Unjoy of Cooking
By Ashton Cynthia Clarke I don’t remember why Daddy suddenly told me to fix dinner. Making our beds and polishing the wood veneer furniture with Pledge were the only household chores assigned to me and my little brother. Preparing food was strictly Mommy’s job. But where she was, I don’t remember. There was a period … Continue reading The Unjoy of Cooking
Academy of the Heart And Mind 