I have been planning a series on "Grief and Grieving" -- and tonight got a call from very dear friends saying that one of their two dogs had died. The spiritual wound made by loss has come to them. My friends had a brother and a litter mate sister. Their two Bichon Frises were 10 years old, and had been loved and cared for in all the best ways. The little boy dog, Whidbey, died today, after a very brief struggle with what turned out to be pervasive cancer.

This week I would like to introduce you to Suzie Ridler, the beautiful muse who caught the idea of Dreamboarding and cast it out into the world.

The day has only so many hours. We can only do so much. And there is so much in every day that we cannot change, cannot impact, no matter what we do. Yet, if you are like me, you can find many occasions in a day when you allow your spirit to be troubled and chaotic about something you cannot control. We waste our spirit's true energy, squandering it on the worthless worries in our lives.

Even though Heavy Metal in Baghdad never hit the mainstream movie theatres, the documentary, released on DVD earlier this month, is already a hit.

When you are most likely to experience a glimpse or deep feeling of "The Sacred", where are you? What are you doing? This moment, when the world seems suddenly clear, both beyond and inside comprehension -- is precious. It is a moment when everything inside us is entirely alive and quickened. Yet at the same time we are at peace.

Some days hope can be hard to come by. I've had a lot of days like that of late -- even though it's Summer, even though we are all supposed to be tra-la-la do-dahing all over the beach and whatnot. But the soul doesn't pay much attention to the seasons of the world--nor does illness, or homesickness, or a shortfall in cash. All of that stuff--all of those fates or destinies or fall-outs of happensance--they can happen any time, and when they do, well, you need back up.