Sad today to hear of the passing of the great poet Mary Oliver. I first heard of Mary Oliver several years ago via the above quote, which lead me to discover her poetry, and helped teach me a way of seeing the natural world. Her quiet spirit and attention to…
The Longest Night
At 4:29pm I stepped outside on my way home from work, watching as the sun set behind the gray winter sky. The overcast sky muted the moment in a way that made the daylight’s recession almost imperceptible. The night had silently begun, and with it, just as unassumingly, had our…
Running is Prayer
In the Navajo tradition, kids grow up learning about running as a part of their culture. They run east in the morning to meet the sun, and to meet the Creator. For the Navajo, running isn’t simply a way to stay physically fit, it’s a spiritual practice. Running is a…
Small and Sustained
Over the past year my curiosity has led me down two distinct but converging paths. One is running. The other is the wilderness. The two paths converge at this curious sub-culture within the sport of running: trail running. In my curiosity, I’ve fed on a steady diet of books and…
The Longest Night Run
Friday, December 21 is the Winter Solstice, the longest night of the year in the northern hemisphere. In southern Manitoba that means 16 hours of darkness, from sunset to sunrise on the 22nd. Our dear friend Ashleigh was recently diagnosed with Stage IV cancer, bringing a season of darkness to…
Silence has found me
When snow begins to coat the ground, as it’s been doing this week in our neighbourhood, every noise is muffled, creating a new world of silence that is breath-taking in its unexpected minimalism. Every sound that you do hear feels intentional. Somehow the birds’ songs have become clearer and more…
This is Nature
Kristine McDivitt Tompkins (along with her late husband, Doug Tompkins) worked to establish conservation areas stretching millions of acres across Patagonia on the southern tip of South America. I was inspired by an interview in the documentary 180° South, where McDivitt Tompkins (possibly quoting Gary Snyder?) stated, “You can’t protect…
RunHaiku Volume 3
Remember the small secret creases of the earth. – Wendell Berry, Sabbaths 1990 III This summer and fall have been seasons of discovery in my own backyard. Short detours off the beaten path revealed forests teeming with life, trails tucked into the margins between highway and river, and creatures pushing…
Seek Friction
A couple great takeaways in this interview with David McCullough from The Paris Review. The first, LOOK AT YOUR FISH (as shared by Austin Kleon, check out his summary here) is a great reminder that the answer is often right in front of you. The question is whether you’re able…
Brevity
In autumn the whole world speeds up and slows down at the same time. Leaves change from green to yellow to fallen in the blink of an eye. The sun’s path across the sky shortens by the day. As the changes accelerate, we’re reminded to savour the season even more,…
Hi, I'm Brent! I write about creativity, curiosity, design, and wonder.
Check out my newest book Pay Attention.
© 2019 Brent Manke