Author Archives: John Swinburn

My collection of empty wine bottles is screaming to know their fate—a bottle tree or a whimsical room divider or what have you—but I allow the bottles to sit, abandoned, in the workroom. It’s simply for want of the right tools, the … Continue reading →

There’s a chill in the quiet early morning air; the trees warm themselves under a patchwork quilt of their few remaining leaves. Later, when the sun rises and brings a light breeze, I imagine the rustling of leaves and branches is the trees shivering, the way I … Continue reading →

My penmanship is not up to the task of handwritten letters; I’ve long since lost the ability—if I ever had it—to write notes pleasing to the eye. But I continue to hone my capacity to express my thoughts through my fingers. … Continue reading →

Sharpen your fingers and carve an arc of your initials in the sky.

Take it all seriously. Every smile, every frown, every eyebrow raised in surprise at your audacity. But don’t take it personally. And don’t let it ruin an otherwise remarkable lifetime.

Watching the world drift by from a comfortable place on the periphery seems to me a waste of opportunity. It’s not as dangerous as engaging in action, but neither is it as fulfilling.  Opportunities to fail aren’t available to everyone; we … Continue reading →

Dreams sometimes tease me with possibilities that do not exist. They must be thrust beneath the pillow and starved of the oxygen necessary to survive.

The reality that some dreams and desires are unattainable  is among the hardest to face. Whether we view our response to that pain as an adjustment or a defeat says more than words ever could about our wisdom and our bravery.

The wise ones among us temper certainty with doubt, anger with compassion, and confidence with humility.

I sometimes think the visual arts can say far more than words can hope to express. Painting and sculpture and photography, when executed with creativity and skill, offer insights into ideas and emotions that, if explained with words, seem dull and … Continue reading →

Now is as good a time as any to be happy, better than most. Many things are going my way. Some are not. There’s enough uncertainty to add dimension and depth to the value of goodness when it comes.

If a professional editor had proofed the English language before it was ‘published,’ we would not have homophones. The words ‘flour’ and ‘flower’ would have been caught and corrected with, perhaps, ‘flour’ and ‘prungle’ or ‘bludge’ and ‘flower.’

Our emotional edges sometimes are not as smooth as we’d like. Meditation is better sandpaper than medication to solve that dilemma. Would that emotions were easier to control; some days, they’re like chaos on steroids.

‘Sky’ is an interesting word. I’ve always considered the sky to have no limits, but perhaps the word refers just to the visible atmosphere. Yet, if the word is about the visible atmosphere, we would not talk of the night sky. … Continue reading →