Marriage as a Vessel of Transformation

Eight years ago on our 22nd anniversary, Richard and I walked into Lake Washington. This was not our usual morning swim, an immersion in the elements of water and sky with our dog swimming figure eights between us. On that day, I wore my wedding dress, a knee-length, aquamarine silk dress that I had designed. We held hands as we walked from our home to the water’s edge and into the lake. But…

The Value of a Holistic Approach

From my experience in communities I realized that there is a need to develop a holistic approach to community work. A holistic approach takes into account the total wellbeing of individuals, groups, and societies at all levels and in all aspects. There are no divisions or boundaries between differing methodologies, individual problems, and problems of housing and food security or education, etc.…

On Beauty

Autumn Harvest. photography | Floris van Breugel When we are filled with aesthetic delight and the thrill and grace of the beautiful, we open ourselves fully to life. Our fears vanish and we stand in the field of springtime, free, fresh, alive and open to tread more lightly on the sacred earth. ~ Nancy Roof, Kosmos Journal, 2006

Incremental Gestures

With a couple of hours to go before boarding a flight from Los Angeles to Milan, I decided to grab a bite in the Emirates lounge, knowing dinner was still several hours out. Scoping out a table, I noticed three other travelers, each dining solo. Without much thought, squeezing behind one of these diners, I casually asked: “Would you care to join me?” Perhaps a bit surprised but more than…

gallery one – Violence Transformed: Celebrating the Transformative Power of Art

Violence Transformed is an annual—and annually expanding—series of visual and performing arts events celebrating the power of art, artists, and art-making to confront, challenge, and mediate violence. The aims of Violence Transformed are to broaden and diversify the audience for socially engaged artistic practice, amplify the voices of creative individuals and organizations at work in our…

On Beauty

photography | Malene Thyssen, wikimedia commons When we awaken to the call of beauty, we become aware of new ways of being in the world. When this desire and capacity comes alive, new wells awaken in parched ground; difficulty becomes invitation and rather than striving against the grain of our nature, we fall into rhythm with its deepest urgency and passion. This is why the time is ripe for…

gallery two – At Home in the Forest

I started taking photos in 2009. My pictures express the feelings and moods that I felt during my trips to the forest in the last few years. If I try to imagine myself, I see someone walking on the road straight to the light. This kind of light is in the photography and also as I process my own life. In the dreamland that I create I feel myself at home. I belong to the forest. I am under big…

Jennifer Browdy

Jennifer Browdy is an Associate Professor of Comparative Literature, Gender Studies and Media Studies at Bard College at Simon’s Rock. She founded the Berkshire Festival of Women Writers and has published many articles and book chapters on the nexus between politics and poetics in women’s world literature. She has edited two anthologies of contemporary women’s personal/political writing from…

Ela Gandhi

Ela Gandhi, granddaughter of Mahatma Gandhi, is a renowned peace activist and was a Member of Parliament in South Africa from 1994 to 2004. She is the founder of the Gandhi Development Trust. www.gdt.org.za

Violence Transformed: Celebrating the Transformative Power of Art

Violence Transformed is an annual—and annually expanding—series of visual and performing arts events celebrating the power of art, artists, and art-making to confront, challenge, and mediate violence. The aims of Violence Transformed are to broaden and diversify the audience for socially engaged artistic practice, amplify the voices of creative individuals and organizations at work in our…