DROPS OF WISDOM: A Memorable Kindness
Hi from the balmy hills of Vermont.
Life is very green here, punctuated with lacy white peonies and a few red roses. Our bikes are tuned up, our dogs (and us) are getting walked, the air smells sweet, the red clover is up, and we are lucky all the way around. And yet life is bittersweet. The turmoil of the world is so intense and so pervasive. May we keep?our eyes and our hearts open?as we find our way.
Thank you?for being part of our ToDo community. New membership plans underway. Stay tuned.
Sending warmest wishes from the ToDo Team,
Gregg, Linda, Betty & Ella
A Memorable Kindness
by Linda Anderson Krech
One day we received a card in the mail from Peg & Ter’s, a nearby restaurant and cocktail bar. How curious, I thought, while opening the hand-addressed envelope.?Why are they personally writing to us??Although I had read a charming newspaper article about this place when it opened, I had never been there.
Once I pulled the card out, it all became clear.?Our friend, Damian, who lives in a nearby state, had orchestrated a surprise gift for us, having heard about this new restaurant from his chef-son, and having realized that it was 20 minutes from where we live.
He purchased a generous Peg & Ter’s gift card for us, for no particular reason except to be nice --?prompted by a poem he'd read -- Danusha Lameris' Small Kindnesses. (Scroll down to listen to the poem.) He thought we might enjoy it, and he was very right about that.??
I loved the idea that someone from another community helped us to enjoy our own local community more fully.?What fun!?Since that time, I have enjoyed setting up local gifts for others, by poking around online in their own?community (or maybe a bit beyond), to see what I can find.
Of course there’s no guarantee that our gift recipients will be thrilled by our gifts, but doesn’t that just come with the territory of gift-giving? It’s worth the chance.?Many of us travel in a set orbit,?only patronizing certain places and ignoring the rest.?Local gift cards can provide an excuse for exploring in a new direction, and reporting back on the experience. I’d like to keep this practice going.
And I just noticed that Peg & Ter’s Restaurant and Bar has permanently closed.?Thank you, Damian, for helping us to experience this?special little place while it was in its prime, and for surprising us with your thoughtfulness, and for introducing us to a special way of giving gifts.?
CLICK HERE to listen?as?Helena Bonham Carter reads Danusha Laméris' Small Kindnesses (from 365 Poems for Life by Allie Esiri)
Moment of Zen
The old teachers thought that what is inconceivable to us is, ultimately, the only thing that we can genuinely rely on. In this way they managed to find happiness inside disaster and peace inside war. When disaster is here, and you want to be happy, the happiness has to happen here, the dancing and the music here, even while there is disaster. Where else would you find happiness?
by John Tarrant
from "Bring Me the Rhinoceros: And Other Zen Koans That Will Save Your Life"
Monkton, Vermont
Sept. 22 – 28, 2024
with Gregg & Linda Krech
Bavaria, Germany
Oct. 20 - 27, 2024
with Gregg Krech & Sabine Kaspari
Please note that if you are fully paid 90 days before the program begins, you will receive a $100 discount on your tuition!
This 7-day Residential Certification Program?is our most comprehensive educational opportunity.??
The program provides an opportunity for you to step back from your day-to-day life, immerse yourself in the wisdom and beauty of Japanese Psychology, reflect on your life, develop new practices, soften your heart,?challenge your stories,?activate your senses,?savor nature's beauty, and become an integral part of this year’s residential community.
It is a rich and empowering curriculum, drawing mental health professionals, educators, health practitioners, as well as the general public, in search of the best way to spend their "30,000 days".
“Prepare for lots of inspiring teachings?and?thoughtful talks that reach down?into the depth of your being. Expect?many lively debates that make you come alive?100%, experimental cuisine on a daily basis, very interesting dinner table?conversations indeed, tons of warmth and support from the people around you,?a good deal of subtle and sometimes less subtle guidance by Linda and Gregg.?Don’t hesitate a second to register for it.?It’s money and time very well spent.”?— Barbara Buri, Switzerland
We'd love to have you join us!
Contact Linda for further information: [email protected] / 802-453-4440
PRACTICE OF THE WEEK
Gifts from the World ?
Spend ten minutes each evening, reflecting on what you received from the world for free that day. Look for gifts that you did not pay for or contribute to. Maybe you walked on a park trail that others made for your convenience, or smelled honeysuckle from a neighbor's yard. Maybe you enjoyed the sunset, or ate a free sample of cheese from your local market. Find all the ways that the world supported you, without any compensation from you.
"There are days when I feel like that toy."
- Gregg Krech