Care of Soul: The Interconnection of Soul

Often when we think of or speak about “soul”, we are talking about “‘the soul”. The soul is commonly thought to be the spiritual, private immortal part of us. However, Soul is not something that we possess in private. Soul is fundamentally about interconnection. It’s not about independence. In fact, there is no such thing…

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Care of Soul Encore: Breaking Through the Noise

It seems like the noise, confusion, and tension of the world just keeps building and building. I am back in Maine and contemplating the ever-increasing noise of daily life. It’s the perfect time to look again at how we can break through the noise. I talk a lot about how silence and stillness nourish me. Every…

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Care of Soul Rewind: Good Morning

Eight o’clock on any given morning typically finds the Larkin Painting team in someone’s home.  It is early in the day yet, a time of new beginnings and new adventures out in the world.  It is a precious moment.  The first thing we like to say to each customer as we meet them in this…

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The WE of Us

Some time ago, I wrote about George Washington Carver. He is the patron saint of The Larkin Painting Company. I’d like to say more about why we adopted him as our patron saint. Carver was a botanist and an inventor who was born into slavery in America in 1864. Philip Shepherd in his book New…

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We Are Nature!

I’m thinking a lot about something, a colleague of my wife always says. Her name is Connie and she lives in the northern Minnesota woodlands with beavers as her neighbors. She reminds us often that “We are nature!” Let that sink in for a moment! Or better yet, think about the meaning of Mary Oliver’s…

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Doran’s Wisdom

April is Autism Awareness Month. I have a grandson who lives with autism. He just turned 20 years old. He will probably never be able to live without the support of a group home setting. Many people are qualified to speak about the developmental disorder and its effects on individuals and families, but I would…

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Yes!

In the past few months, I have been asking the forest in the town of Natick for permission to walk on its earth, mingle among its trees, listen to the tapping of its woodpeckers and the hoot of its owls, hear the rush of its waters, along with many more other delights. Before I enter…

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Home Soul

Hi Folks, We know that the entrance to your home is not just an opening surrounded by wood, allowing access by swinging a wood or metal panel door, but a passageway where you welcome family and friends. It is a threshold that you crossed as newlyweds or when you brought home your newborn child, an…

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Your Brother and Friend in Soul

Dear Customers, Vendors, and Colleagues, I am happy to announce that Carol Diedtrich and Tom Fitzpatrick will be joining The Larkin Painting Company (LPC) as the new owners. They have spent the better part of the past year getting a bird’s eye view of LPC, its mission, its company culture, its way of doing business,…

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