On Spending Time
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Hello friends, I've spent the week with friends on the opposite side of the continent from where I live. These are people I've known for decades. It is always good to see them. We challenge and support each other, and together, deepen our work and expand our minds. One thing you may not know about me is that I used to travel. A lot. While I appreciate the gift of the amazing places I've seen while speaking and teaching, and am some grateful for the people I've met... travel was never my thing. And then I burned out. So it takes a lot for me to travel outside my time zone these days. But it is also good for me to do on occasion. It shifts me out of my comfort zone, challenging my status quo. What does that for you? Is it getting up at a different time? Shifting your exercise routine? Getting in touch with someone you haven't seen for a long time? Taking a class? Starting a new and challenging project? Reading something you would not normally read? Visiting a place you've never been, even locally? Standing on your head? This calendar year, I'm engaged in an experiment to reset my inertia toward something that feeds my life more thoroughly and offers a chance to commit to different disciplines. I'm spending time with that, just as I spent time with these old friends. When we commit to making time for something new, we don't know what might happen. And for me? That is the true gift, and the deeper challenge. Because we're all facing the great unknown. We may as well get in some practice. Best wishes - Thorn I had a wonderful conversation with hip hop emcee and educator Davin Thompson, aka Do D.A.T. We discuss freestyle hip hop, spiritual practice, and showing up for life. I hope you enjoy it. You can listen on YouTube or your favorite podcast channel: Magic, Creativity, and Life
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T. Thorn Coyle
Hello friends, I’m in the woods right now, with a group of friends, both old and new. There are deer here, small, gentle ones with large ears. The deer keep their distance, but not so far that I cannot read the glint in their eyes, or catch the curious fan of those ears. These deer are not tame. They just live in a world where the potential for harm is slim. For deer to live so unafraid means this is a sheltered place. A place they have learned to be slightly wary of the lumbering, two legged...
Hello friends, I write this from Portland, Oregon, which is under threat from the US Federal Government right now. This week, as the political landscape looks worse than ever, I’m choosing to celebrate small victories and cultivate pleasure. One: The first tiny victory I’d like to share is that, when I logged into my Libby Library app looking for ebooks to read, I found that a kind librarian had given my book Sushi Scandal a thumbs up and sweet recommendation! This lifted my heart and made me...
Hello friends, I posted a picture of a cat on social media this morning with the caption “Sometimes we need to speak up.” It was a close up of the beautiful creature talking to me. Here it is: Close up photo of a meowing cat. But there’s a story behind that photo, one that relates to so many of us right now. The cat wasn’t just greeting me. The cat was asking me for help. Here's the story: On one of my walks, I spied this cat watching me. I stopped and greeted it when it was still a couple of...