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Author Archives: Beth Waitkus
Gardening from the Inside-Out
These days, we need every strategy available to stay grounded by cultivating kindness and compassion for ourselves and each other. Deepening the interconnections with self, community, and the natural world can help transcend the current polycrises. My next series of … Continue reading
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Tagged meditation, mental-health, mindfulness, personal-growth, spirituality
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Cultivating Humanity
Recently, I learned of a new word: “Polycrisis.” So these are some times. A lot of strife here and at home and globally, in a world that literally seems on fire (hence polycrisis). In this context, social media has become … Continue reading
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2022: A Year to “Call In”
The New Year is always an interesting moment – opportunities to restart, rejuvenate, reset. I’m not sure if studies have been conducted to determine whether resolutions translate into reality, but for me, simple lists – lose weight, eat healthy, etc … Continue reading
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A Journey into Racial Equity
In 2002, I founded the Insight Garden Program (IGP) at San Quentin – with the vision to bring gardens into prisons, transforming lives through connection to nature. I’ve always felt comfortable working in “difficult places” with diverse people. I was … Continue reading
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The Case for Space
Having just returned from a desert camping adventure, I’m intrigued by the meaning of “space” on so many levels. It seems, when I’m able to view/be immersed in the vastness of nature, I discover new places in my soul I … Continue reading
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The Longest Year
Today is the first anniversary of the Bay Area’s Shelter in Place. It feels stunning, really. 365 days of the most surreal year. Life, as we knew it, turned into slow motion trauma, or as my friend Jenny-Beth says, “wading … Continue reading
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Coming Home
More than six years have passed since my last blog on this site, coinciding with becoming Executive Director of Insight Garden Program, and not too long after that, the coronation of Donald Trump. And this past year, the Pandemic. All … Continue reading
Why do I Help “Criminals?” (Part II)
At the Insight Garden Program, we’ve worked with more than 1,000 people at San Quentin Prison. Aside from our great results (less than 10% rate of return to prison compared to CA’s 70%), a transformative curriculum (now grounded in the … Continue reading
From Prep School to Prison
Much gratitude to the Hotchkiss School Alumni Association’s Board of Governors for the school’s 2013 Community Service Award. Below is my speech to the Hotchkiss community on April 12, 2013. To the Hotchkiss School Alumni Association’s Board of Governors and … Continue reading
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What does it mean to be free?
(Reposted from January 2012) In last week’s prison garden class, our provocative question for the day was: “What does it mean to be free?” Aside from the obvious – that most people in prison want to get out – some … Continue reading
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Beth Waitkus 