Poet Anne Haven McDonnell says that encountering the natural world is encountering the mystery. In part two of our exploration of Orion Magazine's environmental writer's workshop, a bear peers in the window of the classroom at Omega. That close encounter with wilderness inspires McDonnell to read her own bear poem as well as others exploring the kinship between humans and animals.

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This episode, and the one that follows, grew out of the Orion Magazine's environmental writer's workshop held annually at Omega. Fiction authors, non-fiction authors and poets mingle with the aspiring during this weekend and I became fascinated by the work of poet Major Jackson, who interweaves the rural, the urban and the cultural into his work to profound effect.

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Do we all age like a fine wine, or do some of us turn to vinager? Harvard educated cell biologist and licensed psychologist Joan Borysenko explores the physical, emotional and spiritual factors to age with sass and class. Laughter, a sense of purpose, and eating chocolate slowly are some of the tools Borysenko recommends in the face of the very real challenges faced by an aging baby boomer generation.

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Although Tim Olmsted looks like a preppy dad in a Ralph Lauren ad, he's actually a leading Buddhist teacher and President of the Pema Chödrön Foundation. For the premiere of Omega Institute's new podcast, Dropping In, Olmsted explores Siddhartha, our monkey mind, the four immeasurables of buddhist thought, and how meditation can change our world. This episode features audio recorded in Olmsted's workshop at Omega woven together with an intimate interview by host Karen Michel.

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