We normally think of compassion related to pain, sadness, poverty, misery, but today (I’m a day late, I mean yesterday,) is also International Day of Happiness, so I’d like to join 1000 Voices Speak for Compassion and reflect upon compassion as a way of bringing some happiness to other people. It’s not a pleasant situationContinue reading “Compassion and Happiness: A Room Without a Roof #Happiness #1000Speak”
Category Archives: Personal Posts
Dressing Up for an Eventful Week
I don’t usually write diary-like entries to my blog, but today is going to be an exception, because I’ve had a strange and eventful week, which I’d like to share with all of you. A lot of work, fun, excitement, and dressing up has been going on… Sunday 26th was great! I spent the dayContinue reading “Dressing Up for an Eventful Week”
A Tiny Rose For You!
This morning I photographed this lone little rose in my garden. I can’t imagine how she survives, because it’s almost 40ºC in the shade! But she struggles on, and grows, alone in her singular beauty… Some days I feel like that! Small, alone, tired, and struggling against the natural elements… As you know I’m formatting myContinue reading “A Tiny Rose For You!”
Gifts: I offer you a blade of grass
There is a beautiful poem by Brian Patten about how difficult it can become to give and receive simple, inexpensive gifts. I love receiving and giving gifts, and I spend a lot of time choosing the right one for each person, but this post is for all the wonderful people who have gifted me, andContinue reading “Gifts: I offer you a blade of grass”
Centuries of Worship: A Roman, Visigothic, Muslim, and Christian Temple
The previous MIT chapel is beautiful in its contemporary simplicity. On the other hand, there are ancient places which fill your senses with calm, and love, and peace, like the Mosque in Cordoba. I’m fortunate enough to walk past it every day on my way to work. Sometimes I pop inside. just for a fewContinue reading “Centuries of Worship: A Roman, Visigothic, Muslim, and Christian Temple”
Simplicity
Originally posted on Hoarded Ordinaries:
The chapel at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology is a paragon of simplicity. MIT is a place where brilliant people think deep thoughts while solving complex problems involving complicated technologies. Perhaps it’s fitting, then, that famed architect Eero Saarinen designed a chapel that is almost painfully austere in its simplicity:…
Rereading Jane Eyre 