“The most precious gift we can offer anyone is our attention. When mindfulness embraces those we love, they will bloom like flowers.” – Thich Nhat Hanh It took me the better of the day, Sunday, to realize I had been ruminating. This wasn’t your garden variety kind of brooding – there were no long and…
It’s Been a Year
Just over a year (and eleven or twelve haircuts) ago, I arrived in San Francisco. I had been driving around the country for fifty-three days – visiting cities, bars, cafés, and museums. I drove through all types of weather. I camped for the first time in my life – and then the second and third…
Fall and Its Minor Discontents
Fall weather always hits me in the gut with the bittersweet feels. It’s a time of nesting and settling in and maybe cutting back, but also one that feels full of potential and dusty roads yet to be traveled. It seems to be the time of year when the ghosts from the past dance closest…
Lacking Sleep, I’m Reading Lists
I suppose I’m more of a morning person than a night person. Unless, of course, I haven’t slept well – then I’m not much of a morning person either. Or, if I stay out late – in which case I suppose I’m a night person. For the better part of the past year, I’ve been…
Lots of What I like and Most of What I Need
The other day, my morning started (or kinda started – I was up at 5am) with a run along Marina Green and Crissy Field. The fading, full moon over the Golden Gate Bridge was spectacular. The light in California is different compared to most places I’ve been, and the view was a glorious reminder of…
When Night Feels Like Autumn
The desktop sleep/wake screen was a picture of Monument Valley. I looked it up on a map. I haven’t explored that part of the country. Looking at the map, I was hit with a slight urge to pack my bag and go. I zoomed out on the map. I saw Sedona. I zoomed out further……
Knowledge and Possession
It’s morning – cool and gray. I tried to write a poem about knowing and possessing and the odd calm in almost believing that I know nothing, have known nothing, possess nothing, have possessed nothing. The poem was rubbish and lacked stickiness. Instead, I remembered a first date I had many years ago. It was…
Moment of Zen on a Crowded Bus
A few days a week I commute to Oakland. As the crow flies, It’s about ten or twelve miles. But crows can fly across the Bay. I cannot. Those ten or twelve miles (13 by car) take half an hour to drive and about an hour by public transportation. I take public transportation – which…
An Appreciation for Place
On my birthday (back in August), I sat on a bench by a small beach along the San Francisco Bay. I watched the sunset over the Golden Gate Bridge. I took a picture of it. This week, for no reason other than maybe some subliminal desire for fall hues and an appreciation for the ever…
First Days
Day one on the new job (yesterday), was tiring. During the morning commute, my transit card wouldn’t scan at the train station. I assumed it was a low fund balance issue – though I couldn’t rule out that it was a Matt is dumb and doesn’t know how to use his transit card issue. Both…
Anything but Routine
It’s early. I had to set an alarm today. I haven’t done the alarm thing, at least not on a regular basis, in a little over a year. It’s my first day at my new job. I’m giving myself extra time to wake up, get ready, and make the commute. I haven’t had a commute…
Morning Sky Brightening
From my apartment window, I watch as the sky purples. I’m not sure if this is a trick of the eye or the light from my apartment reflecting in the glass or the approaching dawn. I wait, hoping time will provide more clues. The sun always rises, the the sky always brightens. It’s nice to…