So it came to me yesterday at Quaker Meeting for Worship something that I’ve been spinning around in my head for awhile: the tension between our desire for community and for individuality. I realized the many places that manifests for me, particularly in my spiritual practice and my dancing. Pews vs Meditating Alone I was…
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Letting Your Light Shine… on Instagram
Lately the numbers on my Instagram reels have just tanked. And if I can be honest, it doesn’t feel great. I assume there is some algorithm shenanigans going on. Which is fine, it’s their platform — that’s how they make their money. I’m more interested in unpacking how all of this feels as an online…
Accidentally Learning to Sail
It’s the Summer of 1997 or 1998. I’m in Silver Bay, New York for the annual retreat of New York Yearly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends. Basically it’s adult summer camp for Quakers in New York. That’s as exciting as it sounds, complete with lots of meditation, reading, quiet conversation, and contemplative walks…
Poor and Alone in Geneva
The year was 2003. I was in my thirties, trying to figure out the next step in my career. The obvious way to do that was to move to Geneva, Switzlerland. You know, like everybody does. Even at the time, I didn’t feel super confident in the move. I loved living in New York City…
Revisiting “The Message” (2011)
I have always had a really hard time watching myself dance. All I see are the mistakes, the awkwardness, the flaws. I have so many videos of me dancing on my computer that I have never looked at. I’m trying to get better at being kind and compassionate with myself, including my own artistic expression….
The Three Purposes of Community
Someone said that true communities served 3 basic needs: to welcome and appreciate you, to help when you are sick or in need, and to remember you when you are gone. It came to me today at Quaker Meeting that these are also things that drive us to seek a life partner. (“In sickness and…
2020 in Review: Skating, Fasting, Connecting Virtually
The year 2020 was one that no one could have anticipated. A global pandemic grinds normal life to a halt. Horrible acts of violence against Black people lead to a painful but necessarily national reckoning with the systemic racism in our society. A contentious presidential election results in (hopefully) a peaceful transfer of power. I…
Art as Fishing by Todd Drake
Last week at Brooklyn Quaker Meeting for Worship, Todd Drake shared this beautiful message, which I am sharing with his permission: As an artist, I have often thought of making art as like fishing. It’s like you are throwing out bait and hoping that it catches something. That might mean a sale or some kind…
From Giving out Bologna Sandwiches in Santa Monica to Building a World Government
In college at UCLA in 1990s, I knew I wanted to change the world. But I didn’t know what that meant. I sought the answer through volunteering, a lot. I spent my weekends distributing food to homeless people in West Los Angeles. I got really good at making hundreds of bologna sandwiches at a time….
How I’m Surviving the Pandemic: Moving, Meditating, Connecting
So we are in Month 4 of the coronavirus pandemic quarantine, which is unbelievable and weird. Time has no meaning anymore, as people are fond of saying. Despite not getting to go to most of the places that were part of my regular routine (the office, the climbing gym, dance clubs and bars, restaurants, bakeries),…