About Nathan Thompson
Nathan Thompson blogs at dangerousharvests.com, which features writings about zen Buddhism, yoga, social justice and politics, the arts, and life in general.
Nathan writes: “It is difficult to summarize who I am, given that the "hats" I wear are diverse, and life itself is always changing. I have been a student of zen meditation for over eight years, and a yoga practitioner for a good part of the last decade. I am an ESL teacher, an editor of an on-line literary journal, a nearly year round bicyclist, a gardener, a non-profit board member, a political questioner, a life questioner, and sometimes a dreamer.”
Classroom Cleaning
A teacher sets about cleaning his classroom before the summer session begins and discovers lots of dust, reminders of how much the tools of teaching have changed over the years, and the awareness that in the classroom or int he home, clutter is still clutter.
Can Lifestyles that are Unsustainable be Moral?
In light of our troubled environment, crippled economy and diminishing resources, Nathan Thompson says it’s really time to question the morality of our economic systems as a whole because they have gone global, for better or worse.
Early Canadian Poetry and the Stories of Your Life
A look at early Canadian poetry gets one writer thinking about how nations – and people – develop their own stories.
A Trickle-Down World Cup?
Will hosting the World Cup brings tangible benefits to the people of South Africa, or will the dream promised by trickle-down-type economics fade away once the last goal is scored and the soccer fans go home?
Life is Too Short For This
Over the years, I’ve struggled to not run a litany of judgments through my mind about that couple and their kids. Until a month ago, I’d never said a single word to any of them. Then the wife turned to me, as I was working on a blog post, and said “Aren’t you that guy who goes to that Buddhist place?”
The Greatness of Lake Superior: A Meditation by the Shore
Nathan Thompson takes time out beside Lake Superior. “The lake itself is a healer,” he writes, “taking whatever comes to it and transforming it, slowly, into something else.”
Moving George Morrison
George Morrison was, among other things, a breaker of molds and stereotypes. At a time when any art — be it art done by Native peoples or done by whites appropriating Native images — that was associated with Native Americans was expected to be filled with teepees, totems, and other stereotypical images, George’s work was decidedly his own.
The Birdman
I sometimes wonder if Mark isn’t a modern day St. Francis, sans the Christian overlay. With Mark, the middleman has been taken out, and love is simply transmitted from his heart to birds and back.
Alleys: A Photographic Obsession
Nathan Thompson has made a photographic study of alleys, where he finds the discarded, the forgotten and, occasionally, humanity’s hidden gems.
Biking Through the Elements
I spent the day biking. Nothing unusual about that; it's something I do fairly often throughout most of the year, sans parts of the really cold months of winter. Unlike driving, where one is mostly protected from the elements, being on a bicycle … Read more →
