The 100 Seconds to Midnight Notebook
As a LGBTQ+ writer and lifelong activist, I will share ideas or thoughts from my personal notebook (some with photos) to inform, uplift and build solidarity in this time of existential human crises, namely pandemic, equality/justice, and climate change. So many of us are suffering, anxious, or isolated. I have created a private Facebook group as well, where members will be able to reciprocate with their own ideas and thoughts. If you wish to join, click this link for The 100 Seconds to Midnight Notebook Facebook group.
100 Seconds 12/25/20
/in 100 Seconds to Midnight /by inbounddesignIn painful times when rainbows shatter, take a little step. Do what you have to do, but little by little. Don’t imagine the future or mourn the past. Amble in nature with a companion or with your lifelong companion, yourself. Pick some home-grown carrots to roast for dinner. Clean your desk. You see, you are […]
100 Seconds 12/19/20
/in 100 Seconds to Midnight /by inbounddesignStarlings are often dismissed as an annoying, muddy brown bird, barely a notch above vermin. In the right light or with binoculars, I can discern their true, radiant colors — golds, purples, sea-greens, with touches of iridescent blue. In winter, these canny birds are thrilling to watch in synchronized flight above the stubbled farm fields. […]
100 Seconds 12/16/20
/in 100 Seconds to Midnight /by inbounddesignA watercolour of Charlie Mackesy, noted British artist and author of “The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse.” Awe, joy, respect, compassion, worth looking after.
100 Seconds 12/14/20
/in 100 Seconds to Midnight /by inbounddesignA pale light streams into my bedroom. I’ve been tossing and turning for hours. I sit up to witness the weeping willow glowing in the ashen light beyond the glass doors. The moon hovers above the fence line, drawing me in, as a few clouds skuttle across. I fumble for my notebook on the nightstand […]
100 Seconds 12/10/20
/in 100 Seconds to Midnight /by inbounddesignRemember to look closely and again.
100 Seconds 12/9/20
/in 100 Seconds to Midnight /by inbounddesignEons ago, birds perfected a survival strategy for the winter chill, short days, and dwindling supply of insects. Migration, the mysterious and marvelous journey of birds seeking warmth, food, and suitable breeding grounds. It seems like in one day, all the swifts and swallows disappear from the sky. Instead, we hear the crisp honks of […]
100 Seconds 12/04/20
/in 100 Seconds to Midnight /by inbounddesignOceans are ancient, sacred places. I had an opportunity for a scuba lesson at the Great Barrier Reef of Australia — a mind-exploding meander over psychedelic coral and by shimmering fish with bulging eyes. There, I forgot who I was, I forgot my fear, nagging at the corners of my mind after breast cancer. I […]
100 Seconds 11/28/20
/in 100 Seconds to Midnight /by inbounddesignThe molecule on which life on earth depends is chlorophyll, not carbon. As I stare into the water, I realize that trees and plants have come closest to a kind of perfection, converting sunlight into energy, storing our toxic breath, and sustaining the fleeting lives of animals.
100 Seconds 11/22/20
/in 100 Seconds to Midnight /by inbounddesignSharing a well-thumbed poem by Wendell Berry in this time which claws and cloys with our minds. The Peace of Wild Things When despair for the world grows in me and I wake in the night at the least sound in fear of what my life and future lives may be, I go and lie […]
100 Seconds 11/16/20
/in 100 Seconds to Midnight /by inbounddesignIn Ireland, there’s a very old custom that was shared by rural folk, many of whom kept bee hives. Whenever there was a death in the family, someone had to go out and tell the bees about their loss. Some think that this tradition stems from a Celtic belief that bees were the link between […]
100 Seconds 11/14/20
/in 100 Seconds to Midnight /by inbounddesignWhen you move beyond fear, you will sleep.
100 Seconds 11/13/20
/in 100 Seconds to Midnight /by inbounddesignA French wise saying: Des ponts plutot que des murs. Bridges, rather than walls.
100 Seconds 11/12/20
/in 100 Seconds to Midnight /by inbounddesignLife and social change start from the same place: hope.
100 Seconds 11/11/20
/in 100 Seconds to Midnight /by inbounddesignI have found revitalization and serenity in the outdoors, despite the tempest that rages around us. We are a society with Advanced Nature Deficit Disorder. Mental health experts agree that gardening, grow your own, and being in nature will cause our blood pressure to fall, our minds to lift. I think of gardening as a […]