Hello friends, While vending at Punk Rock Pride last month, something on the pebble dash sidewalk caught my attention. It was a safety pin. I smiled, because safety pins are a hallmark of old school punk. They were a way to keep clothing together even if you didn’t know how to sew. Safety pins were handy for attaching patches and badges to jackets. Best of all? They lacked the respectability of neatly mended clothes. Safety pins could also be seen to represent the fierce way community holds...

Hello friends, There are a wide variety of humans, but today I’m thinking about two basic types. There are the people who take themselves out of the picture. Write themselves out of the story. Slink to the edges of the frame. Others take center stage at all times. They fill the image, crowding out or overshadowing those around them. These people are the stars of the show, and the only Main Characters. But here’s the thing: no matter what our tendencies or training, we would all do well to...

Hello friends, I wrote this week’s newsletter in advance, because I’m camping with no cell service. It’s so good for my psyche to disconnect from electronics, stare at mountains, and walk along streams for a week. I’m a mind-racer, and this disconnection—like meditation or prayer—helps slow me down inside. The meditation on nature is always a gift to me, even in the small city where I live. For example, on the summer solstice, it was cool enough for me to take a long afternoon walk. I headed...