Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862) firmly believed that people should regard themselves as part and parcel of nature rather than members of society. In nature one has absolute freedom and wildness. To his consternation he wrote, “only one or two persons in the course of my life understood the art of walking” or who had “a genius for sauntering.” Legs were not made to sit upon, he declared, but to stand or walk upon.  People walk in the highways and across parking lots, “I walk out into nature much the way the old prophets and poets, Manu, Moses, Homer and Chaucer walked in.” True sauntering takes place in the woods and meadows” and not in parking lots and on highways. “The moment my legs begin to move, my thoughts begin to......

Walking through a well-maintained cemetery is a unique experience. Observing the headstones and monuments of those who have gone before us not only grounds us but also stirs a feeling of serenity that stirs contemplation. For the preliminary exams for my doctoral work, I was to collect the rubbings from the headstones from three New England cemeteries. My topic was symbols and rituals of death from four different cultures. India, China, Mexico and New England. I didn’t find these resting places of long-gone ancestors morbid or depressing. On the contrary, walking through these was calming and tranquil. After making drawings and collecting rubbings, I was inspired to take longer walks on the pathways that webbed the greenery. The moment we’re born, we begin our journey toward death. Each human life’s......

July 7, 2026Dear Mindful Creators Group, I thought you might find the summation of Richard Davidson’s new book valuable. (Recently, we discussed a bit of his neuroscientific research with Tibetan monks). His latest work titled, Born to Flourish: How New Science and Ancient Wisdom Reveal a Simple Path to Thriving. Dr.Davidson focuses on transformative practices that train our brain to overcome depression, despair, and loneliness. He writes that we are all born with a natural ability to flourish but that ability needs to be trained for us to live a thriving life. The four transformative practices are: Awareness: Learn to be fully present with your emotions so that you can embrace all of life’s ups and downs. (We practice this with familiarizing ourselves with physical sensations while practicing body scan) Connection: Grow meaningful......