Home of the Wanderer

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xTaN2X_25Mg

You remember how I posted a few weeks back about “how my heart moves“? Well… if that was the deep unseen motion of an aquifer, this past week I’ve felt the sudden rushing of spring mountain streams. It’s all very interesting, and delightful, to experience. So I wrote a few poems, and a few more, and a few more, and now have recorded an extended piece, “Springwater,” that’s composed of six haiku I wrote this afternoon. You can go watch it, of course, on YouTube. Enjoy! (more…)

There’s something moving in my heart that feels familiar, moving in a way like it sometimes has in well-established long-term relationships. It’s not the sparkling brilliance of novelty, nor the inner fire of mutual admiration – though I’m getting those too, to some extent – but a deep, calm, heart-joy, the building of which has usually taken a year or more of living together. It is a feeling that I associate with connection and safety.

Valuing connection, I am in a state of wonder. I wonder how this can be, because I’m not in any relationship where I’m ready to start introducing someone around as anything other than a friend, let alone move in together – or even stop dating others. I’m not in a place where I’d bring this or that person over to meet my parents, even if we were all in the same town. (more…)

Robin Mohr’s recent comment brought to mind a question that has been with me in recent years: does anyone wait for the results of a clearness process before deciding that they are getting married? Given the number of happy marriages with which I am acquainted that seem not to have done so, is it necessary? Have we ever, as a Society, had this as a practice?

From what I’ve seen, such discipline would seem to be a thing of legend. And then I consider a couple who called off their wedding plans twice before finally (after ten years, I believe, and on the third attempt) getting clearness to marry. It was hard for them, but I believe they both consider it to have been appropriate to wait. (more…)

“Quaker Dating” by Betsy Blake | QuakerYouth

I would *totally* sign up for a Quaker dating site. As a matter of fact, I have. I’m not convinced yet about http://www.quakersingles.org – they have 65 registered users, and no way to filter search results by age or location. In the meanwhile, I’m using http://www.okcupid.com (where I’m registered as heaventwig).

I’ve been thinking, for a couple of years now, about a Young Adult Friends (YAF) workshop on Quaker romance. I was hoping this blog post might talk about such a thing, or try to address some of the questions that come up for me about what it means to date as a Friend. I guess you did that to some extent in raising the issues of discipline and the desire to pair with another Friend, which both seem relevant to me. (more…)

From a recent email to a dear friend: (more…)

It will be a treat! There are many tales about Granny Sage’s fish stew, and of its effects. If you want to know more, or to find out why I don’t have anyone on whom to test the storied properties of the stew, get in touch. I’ll be glad to tell you in person.  (And no, I don’t mean I’ve lost my committee – they’ll be here.)

A little at a time.

A memory comes to mind, of standing in my father’s office doorway, looking in, and watching him work. He sat there at his desk, framed by the window beyond. I could only see the sky, and sunlight pouring in, but he probably could see the barn, the garden, the pond, and the hayfields. (more…)

I wrote this in a recent email to a friend: (more…)

Some things are just plain fun, and even easy, while providing a challenge.

For example, it’s challenging to sing really well, but when it works it just works. The voice flows out of the mouth effortlessly – at this point the voice is beyond belonging to a particular person, or at least it seems that way when I’m the one opening my mouth and letting song flow out. There’s no work involved, except in staying out of the way.

Similarly, I find a pleasant challenge when I can stare into my heart and discover the sun, everywhere I go. (more…)

I believe that government derives its legitimacy from the consent of the governed; that the best policies are those that most help the least well-off; and that by thinking together, members of a community can gather their collective wisdom to discover good ways to manage their common assets. I believe (more…)