Author Archives: janishaag

for the night, they wing into the rookery where others like themwill rest after their daily travels, or travails, as the case may be,which, I imagine, for large huntingbirds, might consist of missed prey, avoiding power lines andother ravages of … Continue reading →

Walking across Virginia, Buddhist monksmake their way closer to D.C., monthsafter leaving their Texas home, buoyed by love, tended by strangersat every stop. And somehow that, for me,quells the awful—at least for a bit. I can’t say how following the … Continue reading →

Peace is not something to be found outside; it must be cultivated from within. Even in a divided world, peace is possible—not because the world changes, but because our hearts change.—Venerable Bhikkhu Pannakara, leading the Walk for Peace ••• We … Continue reading →

As kids, we counted every half birthday,50% older than we were six months earlier,on our way to the next number, which always felt like a better age to be.Older, we felt, was better than younger.Now, with more than six decades … Continue reading →

I stand at the marimba, snuggledbeneath three fleecy layers to protectits sweet old rosewood keys, and confront the marching glockenspielon top, the closest thing I have at hometo orchestra bells, rubber mallets dinging away,practicing. I find that I have about15 … Continue reading →

Everything we do, each small act, leaves an impression.Make it one of kindness, empathy, reason and peace.—Janine Vangool, Uppercase magazine ••• She asks in her weekly online newsletterin big block print letters: ARE YOU OK? In another photo, she adds, … Continue reading →

When did I turn it into an altar of sorts?Did I gather the items one by one,or did I collect them for a timebefore installing themin the mirrored chamber? It wasn’t that I’d been avoidinghis bathroom or the medicine cabinet—they’d … Continue reading →

Because when kindness stands firm, the world softens—and hope quietly grows.—the Venerable Buddhist monks from the Huong Dao Buddhist Temple in Fort Worth, Texas ••• The day after a nurse is murdered in Minneapolis,eighteen days after a poet is murdered … Continue reading →

And there in the first momentthat Shelley sings on her birthday, her adoring fans and friendsremember (as if we’ve forgotten) one reason of many why we love herher voice plucking our heartstrings: It only takes a momentto be loved a … Continue reading →

What body memory kicked inthe first night back in bandthat had me automatically flipthe hard mallets to their nearlysilent plastic ends to practicethe bells part? I peered at the music on the standbefore me and gently tapped the silverglockenspiel keys … Continue reading →