If you’re a movie buff, as I am, you might remember Awakenings (1990). The main character, played by the late Robin Williams, is Dr. Malcolm Sayer. Though inexperienced, Sayer cares deeply about the residents in…
Phyllis Cole-DaiApril 20, 2021
Imagine that you are born into poverty. Imagine that, during your grade school years, a teacher recognizes your artistic talent. Imagine that the teacher enrolls you in a government-funded art class, held weekly at a…
Phyllis Cole-DaiApril 13, 2021
On this date, in 1999, I returned home after living by choice for nearly seven weeks on the streets of Columbus, Ohio. As we recounted in The Emptiness of Our Hands, my friend James Murray…
Phyllis Cole-DaiApril 6, 2021
Your phone rings in the middle of the night. As you reach blindly to answer, do you fear that someone you love has been in an accident? Has suddenly died? For a time, early in…
Phyllis Cole-DaiMarch 22, 2021
When your big, slender hand slips into mine, joy spills through me. I soak it up like a new sponge, resisting the urge to squeeze. You’re a young man of eighteen, soon to graduate high…
Phyllis Cole-DaiMarch 15, 2021
Have you ever sat for a formal photograph? When was the last time? Did you do so by choice or at someone’s request? Did you enjoy it, or did you put up with it, like…
Phyllis Cole-DaiMarch 11, 2021
All at once, our February days in South Dakota feel almost like springtime, with bright sunshine and breezy temperatures in the forties. Birdsong swells at dawn as cardinals, finches, chickadees, and nuthatches tune up for…
Phyllis Cole-DaiMarch 3, 2021
Here I am, on retreat again. One year has elapsed since the Muse woke me up on retreat in San Diego, delivering For the Sake of One We Love and Are Losing. At the time, I felt…
Phyllis Cole-DaiFebruary 23, 2021
Some years ago, a dear friend gave me the gift of this bronze pendant. It’s one of the few pieces of jewelry that I own. Along with my wedding band, I wear it every day.…
Phyllis Cole-DaiFebruary 2, 2021
I live a long way from any major body of water. The nearest is Lake Superior, almost 350 miles from where I sit. Yet lately my mind has been preoccupied with lighthouses; more specifically, with…
Phyllis Cole-DaiJanuary 26, 2021
"Today, almost 43 years after Ohio’s “Storm of the Century,” it’s blizzarding around my house here in South Dakota. And that’s not the only storm raging."
Phyllis Cole-DaiJanuary 18, 2021
"What would this trembling world look like if more of us started each day by ritually acknowledging our own power to make a difference? If we dedicated ourselves to spreading beauty, for the sake of…
Phyllis Cole-DaiJanuary 11, 2021
