Half Full or Half Empty?
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“Once, at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, in a gallery of paintings by Peter Paul Rubens, I was asked, ‘What is the most important thing in this room?’” writes artist Gabriel Mills. “After a moment, I replied, ‘The air. After…
A grocery chain in Iceland – Bónus Supermarkets – began selling a slim volume of poetry at its counters on eternal “special offer” several decades ago. It became the best-selling volume of poetry in the history of Iceland, and I…
If you live in Nashville, you’ve likely heard of Room in the Inn. Charles Strobel, a Catholic priest, began sheltering the homeless in his own East Nashville church in 1985. By the time of his death in 2023, Room in…
When the world closed down, Chloe Dalton moved from London to the English countryside. Her career in foreign policy and politics continued remotely, but it all seemed a lot less real than what was happening in her garden and in…
I’m letting go. My flower beds, a bit unruly to begin with, have heard the call of the wild. In my absence, they welcomed their friends the weeds. They’re all having a very big time and I don’t have the…
I’ve taken myself to the beach for the first time in a long while: craving the sea. It does not disappoint, doing the same thing it always does. Keeping its promises. Today, holding its temper: a cheerful churn at the…
My friend Caroline and I took a field trip to the Donelson branch of the Nashville Public Library, newly renovated. The Dollar Tree was practically next door, along with several unremarkable strip malls. The Library itself took our breath away…
I picked up a book for its title, “Things in Nature Merely Grow.” I liked its green ombré cover in shades of moss and was familiar with the author, Yiyun Li. Soon I felt both horror and awe: this is the book Li wrote…
“Wabi Sabi” is a small and lovely book that feels good in the hand – and the heart. Beth Kempton, an Englishwoman, has spent much of her life enchanted with Japanese culture. In this 2018 book, she tries to explain…