Self-Compassionby James A. Pearson Remember that a lakecan freezeand unfreezea thousand times and feel no shame. A coach I worked with a couple years ago often reminded me that life is a cycle of forgetting and remembering. Over and over. One day you feel close and connected with yourself, with the world. The next day… Continue reading Self-Compassion Poem
Author: James A. Pearson
The Mud Season
Patience darling,it’s still too earlyto trust the seasonwith that tenderness you holdin your globed hands. I can feel it, too—the yearning to plantyour fingers in the warming earthand release what’s so alive in youinto the scrum of all life. But the ground’s still frozen beneath all this mud.And winter, even on its way outwill take with… Continue reading The Mud Season
The Survival Dance and the Sacred Dance
How to balance livelihood and longing, and discover your true work in the world In July of 2014 I moved to Seattle and got a job. It was a boring, pay-the-bills sort of job, which was what I needed at the time. A year earlier I’d been living in Uganda, running a social business I… Continue reading The Survival Dance and the Sacred Dance
The Hidden Invitation of Burnout
How to practice “the antidote to exhaustion” when rest isn’t enough Ten years ago I crossed the finish line of my first and only marathon. I said a quick ‘hi’ to some friends waiting there for me, then promptly walked away and broke down in tears. It wasn’t just the distance or exhaustion. The truth… Continue reading The Hidden Invitation of Burnout
Caminante
by Antonio Machado, my translation Walker, only your footprintsare the path, and nothing else;Walker, there is no path,paths are made by walking.Your walking becomes the path,and when you look backyou see a trail you can neverset foot on again.Walker, there is no pathexcept wakes upon the sea. Eight years ago I packed everything I owned… Continue reading Caminante
Worker Bees
I wonder if you can pause—just for a moment—the emergency of your lifeand step outinto the quiet of the world. Hear how gently it conveysthe delicate thread of birdsong,how quickly it can soothethe rupture of a passing jet.Feel its vast, smiling invitationto rest back intothe person you’ve been all your life. Listen now–the poppies burstingout… Continue reading Worker Bees
Game Trails
The forest closes behind meand now this subtle path at my feetis the red thread between worlds,a path made by the soft stepsof wild things, who are at homein the tangled mystery. But I am new to this way of walking—how the trail flirts and teases,fading and hiding and calling you on;how it disappears and… Continue reading Game Trails
Where We Are Now
The day after the election was called I went for a walk in the local forest. It was a cold day. Thick clouds had layered the sky since morning. But just before the sun went down it slipped beneath the gray and lit the trees in a beautiful, heatless glow. Something about the whole autumn… Continue reading Where We Are Now
In a Democracy…
This should go without saying but right now America needs a reminder. Click the image below to download the full-res version and share it wherever you can. (Also if you’re able, you can donate to the ACLU here to help ensure that every vote counts.)
What To Do After Voting
Voting in this election is critical. But it’s not enough. This poem doesn’t pretend to be a full prescription for what our country needs. It’s just my way of acknowledging that all electoral choices are imperfect. Because even more important is what happens between elections—the long, slow work of building a culture of love and… Continue reading What To Do After Voting