It’s a Wonderful Life was my father’s favorite film, and now, years after his death, I see why: it honors the difficult grace of choosing a small life on purpose. George Bailey thinks he has forfeited greatness but the film quietly insists he has achieved it. Part of the movie’s power comes from James StewartContinue reading “It’s A Wonderful Life”
Author Archives: protectivearts
Thanksgiving as Strategy
Because they were educated on the West Coast, my children were taught next to nothing about the original colonies beyond the reductionist claim that the Pilgrims were “colonizers,” a word now used less as description than as accusation.[1] They learned to dismiss the charming saccharine gloss of A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving with knowing irony, andContinue reading “Thanksgiving as Strategy”
SHU HA RI
The Japanese formula shu ha ri comes from classical Japanese arts where preservation, rupture, and departure were recognized as essential phases of learning. Shu means to protect or obey. It carries the sense of guarding something fragile and important, like tending a fire that someone else lit. Ha means to break or detach. The characterContinue reading “SHU HA RI”
Protective Arts 