Grief is a given in this life and a natural part of the human experience, but many people refuse to allow themselves to dive fully into their sadness, and definitely not in public. Yet many other cultures throughout time have processed grief in community; its expression is a casualty of our modern times. Alexis Slutzky […]
Ever since I have been doing these columns about interesting people in their 70s, 80s, and 90s, friends have been saying, “You have to meet Natalie Myerson.” A mutual friend finally set us up for a lunch at Louie’s at the Upham Hotel in Santa Barbara, and Natalie was there waiting for us when we […]
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Peace Sticks seems like a super-simple concept – participants toss a pair of sticks back and forth with a partner. And that’s exactly how it started with Shane and Evan Rilling, the Ojai-based brothers who created the practice. “It came to us on a hike more than a decade ago, when we picked up some […]
As the one-year anniversary of the Thomas Fire and Montecito debris flow approach, we’re imagining there will be several local events to commemorate the milestones of the twin tragedies. Ojai, which was hit early and hard by the fire, as the village’s Community Healing Sanctuary – a collaborative group that has hosted such events as […]
Harrison Maxwell Gilman, son of Montecito’s Richard Gilman, was born and raised in Santa Barbara, and is a 2018 New York University graduate with a BFA in film (with a minor in art history and a minor in the Business of Entertainment). His focus, though, is not on film but in art. “I have sold my […]
Anyone who has attended any of Lisa Citore‘s Anima offerings of Women’s Ritual Theater is aware of the solid mind-body-spirit connection exemplified by the self-described “pleasure activist,” writer, sex educator, and healer brings to her work, whether in the field of performance art or sacred sexuality workshops, or anything between. But for the last several […]
The Spiritualist Church of The Comforter of Santa Barbara has roots that date back more than 125 years to its charter in Summerland in 1891, when it served as the focal point of a small community developed as a summer camp for the newly founded Spiritualist Organization. The church had to relocate when the 101 […]
Famed western Bonsai master Ernie Witham sent us the following: The Bonsai Club of Santa Barbara will hold its annual show, sale, and demonstrations Saturday and Sunday, May 19-20, in the Fellowship Hall at Trinity Lutheran Church, 909 La Cumbre Road at the corner of Foothill Road. Admission is free and open to all who […]
Back in February, I had promised I would write about my experiences at my first-ever silent retreat early that month at Sunburst Sanctuary. But at first, trying to put into words what was almost exclusively a sensory and spiritual experience felt profoundly unsatisfying, perhaps alsmost profane. Then time goes by, life resumes, challenges arise, columns […]
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Yemaya Renuka Duby moved to Santa Barbara only last year, but the somatic therapy practitioner-health and lifestyle coach brought with her a wealth a experience. Duby is a 25-year veteran of the Rosen Method – a psychosomatic system integrating body, emotional, and mental experiences in releasing unconscious patterns of behavior – who trained directly under […]
There were decidedly fishy goings-on at the Santa Barbara Maritime Museum when the Foodbank of Santa Barbara County hosted a mariculture event to emphasize the importance of seafood in the world’s food chain. The nonprofit, which distributes 10 million pounds of food annually, invited three local culinary wizards to show off their wares: TV show […]
It was early last spring, just over a year ago, that Mark Ruskin published his second book of poetry, On Love’s Path ~ New Versions of Rumi, Kabir & Hafiz, in which he intuitively interprets the words of the great mystic poets through his own heart as a Chinese medicine healer. As with his first […]
Westmont alumnus Kenny Chism ’17, sustainability/marketing coordinator for Westmont dining services by Sodexo, focuses on protecting the environmental health of Westmont and the planet. “It is of paramount importance for me,” he says. “I hope to reflect that in every aspect of my life, through how I eat, which stores and markets I support, how […]
My next subject is someone I know very well. Oh, okay, full disclaimer: his name is Bob Fead and… he’s my husband. But, I would be interested in writing about his life even if he weren’t my husband. Whenever anyone learns he’s been in the music business, these are the answers to the questions he […]






