It's hard to get ready for Shabbat--for a day of peace, of rest and meditation--while reading about Israel shelling Gaza in response to Gaza shelling Israel in response to Israel assassinating the Head of Hamas in response to the Head of Hamas ordering shelling of Israel, after months of saying that they couldn't control the smaller groups who were regularly shelling Israel.

Still, on Friday, I drove my children to get a challah, the braided bread that is traditional for the…

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Hey, hey, we're the Monkees

And people say we monkey around,

But we're too busy singing

To put anybody…

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I'm going to come right out and admit it.  I haven't been writing as much as I should in the last few weeks.

Here are my excuses:

1.  I've been working A LOT with church, youth group stuff, and volunteering at the girls' school.  It's kept me busy.

2.  I've not been feeling well.  Time to get the thyroid checked.  I've been sluggish and sleepy.

3.  And, this is the biggest excuse/reason: my characters are mutinying. …

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A Frederick Buechner quote from Now and Then is posted for today's Thought for the Day.

http://writingwithoutpaper.blogspot.com/2012/02/thought-for-day_12.html

I've posted a new poem, "Deaf While Driving":

http://writingwithoutpaper.blogspot.com/2012/02/deaf-while-driving-poem.html

Oh, blog. Hello again. You are the neglected child of my writing life. I’ve put you off until it seemed nothing I wrote could justify the extended silence under which I have buried you in the great catacombs of the internet. Now I am digging you back up. Now I am inscribing words on you: clumsy words, but a beginning nonetheless.

Yeah, so I didn’t really blog this summer. And besides not blogging, I also didn’t do as much reading as I originally planned. Life, job, move…the list of…

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I had another post ready, but as I sit hear reading the Sunday New York Times, another, possibly more pressing issue hit me:  Deaf Ears.  As the US  (and possibly the world) economy unravels and our political systems appear ineffective - our leaders seem to have blinders and deaf ears.





The article "Amid Criticism on Downgrade, S.&P. Fires Back" The article details that:

"The day after Standard & Poor's took the unprecedented step of stripping…

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Today's Monday Muse features Julian Treasure, who speaks to ways to re-tune ourselves for conscious listening.

http://writingwithoutpaper.blogspot.com/2011/08/monday-muse-on-listening.html

Today's quote is from psycho-oncologist Rachel Naomi Remen:

http://writingwithoutpaper.blogspot.com/2011/07/thought-for-day_31.html

I'm getting to a place where I see effort as futile. I believe that the universe, the planet, the body; is intelligent beyond my understanding. - So why do I push to understand, or force to make things happen when I am a part of this perfect whole? I am this universe, this planet, this body. (When I say, I am this body, it doesn't mean that when it gives out… Continue

For the past three days, I have not written into the draft of my novel. I have, instead, sat quietly and written what I call “listening notes” based on what I’ve written and what is simply coming to mind. Just thoughts and ideas. Details and pieces. Everything that is being born out of simply listening to the story as it comes to me, from the characters themselves. Keep reading, I’ll explain.

I’ve given myself four months to get the first draft of my novel completed, and it has been…

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http://kimmitchellrelationshipadvice.wordpress.com/2010/09/14/listening-makes-all-the-difference/

“So what’s your parenting secret?” a friend asked over coffee one morning.



“My parenting secret?”



“Yeah. You’re raising such great kids. What’s your secret?”



“Oh, it’s not a secret. It’s God,” I answered.



“OK,” she replied, “but there has to be some kind of formula. What do you do when your kids won’t listen or they fight or they’re just plain lazy or defiant? Or doesn’t that ever happen in your house? I suppose your kids always this… Continue

Today is your last day on the planet as a 37-year old (nudge nudge wink wink). Tomorrow, when you turn 38, please accept this post in lieu of an actual physical gift. As we know, the material world is so fleeting. Plus, I didn’t get it together to mail you anything.



Here's a partial commemoration of your extraordinary and oh-so-ordinary gifts:

Mom and me, NYC 1988. Photo by Jim Forbes.





LOVE. You may not have been the… Continue

A while back I purchased a book of essays called The Wisdom of Listening and now and again I read an article to help me evolve as a compassionate listener in my practice.



Just tonight I opened to an essay called "Feeding One Another" by Anne and Charles Simpkinson and I am swimming in the realization that many of us do not… Continue