Happy Holi, Easter, Passover and Ramadan
Dear Inner Peace followers:In March the Hindus celebrated the Holi Hindu Festival, Passover is from April 11 to 18; Easter is April 16 and Ramadan will fall on May 27.All four arrive during the spring...
View ArticleInner Peace: Daily worm rescue for health
Being an old guy, I take a brisk two-mile walk every day to maintain my health. Along the way I see dozens of squashed earthworm corpses on the road, so I rescue them from the pavement after the rain....
View ArticleInner Peace: Easier ways to navigate life's headwinds
“May the road rise up to meet you,May the wind always be at your back …”I ponder this Irish blessing when I’m on a challenging bicycle ride into headwinds. This helps me to have the strength to succeed...
View ArticleInner Peace: Learning to say 'so long'
When I was a child, my godfather had a requirement when parting. He would say, “Never say 'goodbye,' always say 'so long.'" If I forgot, I would be corrected, remembering to reply as he wished with a...
View ArticleInner Peace: Is the world broken? Can we fix it?
Don't worry about this world; it is not broken. And don't worry about others. You worry more about them than they do. There are people waging war; there are people on the battlefield who are more alive...
View ArticleYou are responsible for your own happiness
One of the wisest things I’ve ever said was in a group that I was leading about 45 years ago at the height of the Human Potential Movement. Most people in the group were in their 20s. I was in my 40s....
View ArticleFind ways to accept the unacceptable
At times we accept what is a profound pointer, a suggestion, easily verbalized but yet difficult to apply in one's life. Let us be honest: Severe pain, constant debilitating symptoms or a death in the...
View ArticleInner Peace: To be or not to be a Buddhist
We are told that a prince named Siddhartha Gautama, who lived around 400 BCE, left his home and family, went on a spiritual quest and became enlightened — “awake.” Buddha can be translated as “awake.”...
View ArticleInner Peace: Wisdom marries awareness with consciousness
The mind of an enlightened human being is flexible and adaptable.The mind of an ignorant person is conditioned and fixed.—Ajhan Sumedho, "Don’t take your life seriously" (Buddhist Publishing Group)A...
View ArticleOnly the closed mind is certain
To me, political polarization is the biggest challenge facing us today. Until we start bridging the divide between "left" and "right" we can't work together solving problems effectively. We’ll be stuck...
View ArticleHow the 'Killers of the Flower Moon' affected my life
What does genealogy have to do with inner peace? In my case, a great deal. It has to do with the Rogue Valley, my Osage ancestry, the Osage Reign of Terror and a current best seller, "Killers of the...
View ArticleInner Peace: Aikido is a peaceful philosophy to live by
I am a person who never studied or practiced any form of the martial arts. However, I have been intrigued by the foundational philosophy of aikido. The purpose of studying aikido is not perfection of a...
View ArticleCouncil Corner: Reasons to be optimistic
There is a lot of angst and frustration with government right now in our country and our communities. Times are challenging, resources constrained and expectations often out of sync with limited...
View ArticleCouncil Corner: Getting acquainted with Traci Darrow
Since this is my first Council Corner after being appointed to the City Council on Feb. 21, I thought I should let readers know more about me.Who is this person? Where did she come from?I was born and...
View ArticleCouncil Corner: It's April 12 — do you know what your community is doing?
It has been five months since the fall elections. For many of us these five months have felt like a revolution. Personally, my appetite for the crises of the day is waning. I've come to the conclusion...
View ArticleExplaining my vote on social grant funding
At our last City Council meeting, we were asked to affirm recommended social service grant funding put forth by the Health and Human Services Commission. At the meeting, I suggested that the...
View ArticleCouncil Corner: Decision-making and transparency
Being on the City Council, I have learned that decisions come from a group process and things don’t always go the way you might want.We are a diverse group of councilors with different life...
View ArticleCouncil Corner: Addressing affordable housing
Can we really achieve affordable housing in Ashland?There is definitely a need for housing affordability in Ashland. Housing in Ashland costs more than in many of the surrounding communities.On one...
View ArticleCouncil Corner: The view from inside the eye of the storm
There’s a lot of swirl out there right now, in case you haven’t noticed. National politics is beyond what we might call “interesting," and here in Ashland we are grappling with weighty issues, trying...
View ArticleCouncil Corner: One piece of the housing issue
As a community we have had many conversations regarding housing and affordable housing in Ashland. Occasionally there is consensus on the definition of the problem, and many possibilities to address...
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