created & maintained by Chris Biles
I don’t know about you, but many people in my circles certainly had high hopes for the new decade going into January, 2020. The New Year’s celebrations had a different feel to them: so much hope and optimism and excitement – some people just wanted to party, but others wanted the fresh start that they …
Since the sounds and spoken words surrounding us have been so powerful of late, I decided to put together an audio composition for the moment... one that reminds us that history is not a thing of the past, and in condemnation of the disgusting wielding of white privilege and power that needs to stop. Please …
"To practice any art, no matter how well or badly, is a way to make your soul grow. So do it." ― Kurt Vonnegut I came across this quote today in one of my emails and it made me nod emphatically. I've been giving more time and attention to the right hemisphere of my brain …
Week after week for months now I’ve had the intention of sitting down at my computer – in the evening with a calming mug of tea, or a weekend morning with a cup o’ coffee – and just writing, just at long last getting a bit of a blog post going. But it’s been difficult …
I’ve been doing my best to remember that simple Zen proverb, really since I finished Peace Corps service last May, but especially as control over my plan to start the next stage of my life in DC has been wrested from me. I am supposed to start work with the Foreign Agricultural Service as an …
Continue reading "No snowflake ever falls in the wrong place"
Some Fresh Poetry! – Let me take you on a bit of a roller coaster This is a compilation of poetry written during my final few months in the Peace Corps, and during travels following my close of service (recently edited and compiled). These poems were products of personal reflection as I started and continued …
Continue reading "Fresh poetry, inspired by travel and transitions"
“Many speak of opportunities- ‘When one door closes, another one opens.’ But rarely about the hallway. The transition. The in between where you are and where you are headed. The hallway doesn’t have to be a scary, dark, endless confusion- it can be a space of massive transformation, great memories, and peace.” -Unknown In May, …
Continue reading "“Rivers know this: there is no hurry. We shall get there some day.”"
Hiking, swimming, luxury tent, wildlife watching, rain and sun, storms and blue skies, camping food, a place of significant scientific history, and of course chimpanzees / sokwemtu – 48 hours felt like a full week! Leaving Kigoma, I had beautiful weather – sunny but still cool. The ride was gorgeous, breezy, and calm. When I …
Continue reading "Glorious Gombe, A Few Goodbyes – 8 April 2018"
“You can’t stop time. You can’t capture light. You can only turn your face up and let it rain down.” – Kim Edwards (The Memory Keeper’s Daughter) Things have been busy, and my mind as of late has been in a million places at once. That’s the joy of being at pre-service training, of being …
Continue reading "Words, Quotes, Sentences, and Mystery – 5 March 2018"
This world is a big place, and it is full of both beauty and darkness; love and hatred; peace and violence. I believe if there is a benevolent balance of light and dark we’re doing okay. I also believe the Ubuntu principle that people are only people through other people. We would not be who …
Continue reading "Contemplating the Yin and the Yang – 18 February 2018"
marks in the sand 