Thanksgiving: The Harvest of Presence

Thanksgiving is a national day of gratitude, a time to deepen our sense of presence. 

Deer in the woods

The essence of gratitude is rooted in attention, the awareness to witness the gifted nature of 
our lives. From a place of gratitude, we can unlock the fullness of each moment. 

Joy is the simplest form of gratitude. "Niente Senza Gioa!" (Nothing without Joy!) is a daily 
mantra to awaken our sense of wonder. Awake and alive, we see clearly the blessings that 
every single breath contains. 

May Thanksgiving be a time to harvest these moments of beauty in our life! 

The Lost Art of Wandering

Not all those who wander are lost. ~ J. R. R. Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring

Travel has always been for me an inner journey of awakening, a new way of seeing, a nurturing of the poetic instinct.

View of the Arc de Triomphe, Paris, 1946
Ed Clark—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images

In Arabic literature of past ages, travel was considered one of the four great subjects worthy of the poet: love, song and blood, being the other three. These four contain the basic desires of the human heart, worthy of being elevated to a necessity for any human being who is truly alive.