How Visible...
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Hello friends, There’s an artist—or perhaps an arts collective—here in the Pacific Northwest that makes wooden dragon heads with glass teeth and jeweled eyes made of old CDs. The dragons are always painted in bold colors, and attached high up wood utility poles, so it seems as if they are roaring to the sky. I love that part. The roaring to the sky, part. I also love how bright and colorful these dragons are, and how carefully thought out, even if they are made of scraps of wood and outdated technology. Actually, I love that the dragons are bold because they're made of gathered objects and things that may have been cast off. These dragons got me thinking: How often do we allow ourselves to roar? To be bold? To claim the fact that we, ourselves, are made up of the scraps of life? Sometimes—and I get it—it feels safer to be quiet and blend in. Especially for some of us. Especially now. But times like these? A lot more of us might do well to roar more often. What would help you take a risk this week? What might help you to be a bit more bold, and to claim your life? And, closing out the month of June, what might help you live in pride? This week, I hope you find your inner dragon. I hope you show someone your bright colors. And I hope you find a chance to roar. Best wishes — Thorn Need some fiction to take you away? I’m part of this limited-time, sliding scale, Unusual Heroes StoryBundle!
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T. Thorn Coyle
Hello friends, It’s a rainy summer solstice here in beautiful Portland, Oregon. The sun is hiding, but, as I move my way around the city, I still see all the ways in which things shine. There are roses in full bloom everywhere. People don’t call this Rose City for nothing. Some roses are fragrant, others, not so much. But each flower is gorgeous in its own way, whether pink, red, yellow, or white. What else is shining? The glint on a crow’s beak. Rain on the sidewalks. People. Yeah. People....
Hello friends, These are tough days, aren’t they? At least, they are for anyone paying attention to the world. In Portland Oregon where I live, a dedicated group of activists have been holding it down outside the ICE facility. This is a privately owned building, and another group of activists is pressuring our city council to revoke the lease, so ICE does not have a holding and staging area in our sanctuary city. Especially not next to a school and apartment buildings. Last night, the...
Hello friends, Last week, I talked about encountering foxglove on a city sidewalk, and asked how your heart was. But the foxglove also got me thinking: Who first figured out it could be used to help with heart disease? I’m always amazed at the ancestors who figured these medicines out. Who would think that these lovely pink bells would be useful for more than their beauty? Who first figured out we could cure olives and eat them? Who was it that experimented enough to know that the bark of a...