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Radiance
I’ve been thinking about what it takes to bring a little light to an increasingly dark world. Fires, floods, fertility flops, and famines have become more frequent and more severe. The world seems to be shifting to the right fueled by populist rage based on false information. These rapidly changing trends are personal. We have friends whose house burned to the ground in California. They had just moved in two weeks ago and lost everything. Read More
Entertainment or Expertise
Today, less than half of U.S. adults read even just one book per year.
Is Chris Hayes right that our attention has become the focus of corporate manipulation?
If all our conscious thoughts are replaced by the buzz of beeps, notifications, and texts, how can we be more than just “bystanders to our minds”?
Hopelessly Flawed
In a blinding glimpse of the obvious, I recently had a revelation during my morning meditation. It finally struck me, on an emotional level, that we are all hopelessly flawed.
The pressure to be perfect is immense. Constantly striving for an idealized self prevents us from connecting with others. Read more to find out how to harness the power of vulnerability to connect authentically and find the courage to be seen.
Commodities or Communities
Every day presents us with choices, the most essential of which is how we spend our time and what paths we choose.
Sometimes our lives feel like a rolling stone – ups and downs over hills, through valleys, with no sense of place or permanence.
How can we find a sense of home?
When Winning is Losing
Ah, I thought I had finally found a topic on which several books had not already been written. Wrong again. When I searched Amazon for books entitled “When Winning is Losing”, several popped up. But surely, I thought, Google Gemini won’t be able to generate any ideas on this topic! Bingo. In one second it came up with several examples. Oh well, I consoled myself, at least I can still provide my unique view on Read More
Mysteries and Miracles
Throughout history, humans have grappled with the ineffable, seeking to understand the universe and our place within it. Science sometimes can’t explain experience. The belief in miracles make life simpler, whereas understanding mysteries make life more complex. Keep reading to find out more about the differences between miracles and mysteries.
The Seduction of Distraction
In a conversation with my granddaughter about a movie we had recently scene suggesting that every decision we make is an opportunity to bring our best self to whatever moment we are in, she said, “It’s hard to bring the best of who you are to each moment when you have to drag along the rest of you who are into that moment.” How can we continue to dance in harmony with the world when it’s so cacophonous, churning, distracting and discordant?
Leadership Humility, Honesty, and Humor
One could say that I have been a bit obsessed with leadership and learning for most of my life, and I finally came to the conclusion that great leaders could be distinguished by three simple characteristics. Read more to find out.
Hanging onto Hope
Our twin grandchildren just celebrated their 13th birthday as thriving and loving young adults full of potential and promise. Passing this milestone made me think back to the first 105 days of their lives which were spent in the NICU. Each day we hung onto the hope that we might be able to celebrate who they would become one day. When they turned one, I wrote a poem entitled the Sun has Come Out describing Read More
Homeless Solutions and Models
How communities address homelessness issues provides a great example of what happens when you chase symptoms instead of change systems that are causing problems in the first place. Finding solutions to help people experiencing homelessness presents the same kinds of challenges communities face in dealing with health, criminal justice, poverty, inflation, immigration, climate change, gun violence, etc. The choice always involves investing in ways to improve the systems creating the problems vs. dealing with symptom Read More
Arcs of Life, History, and the Universe
Well, it’s not quite like being hit by a meteor that destroys the earth, but it’s pretty close to it. We just elected a cult leader who landed enough hateful and hegemonic messages to enough voters to win the electoral votes by 312-226. (Note: Trump’s margin was less than 2%, and he received less than 50% of the vote, llinois was the only blue state on the electoral map between the coasts, and the total Read More
Grace or Disgrace
In Nexus, Yuval Harari concludes that the difference between democracies and dictatorships lies in how they handle information. Systems, whether human or artificial, can evolve and self-correct when they promote conversation and mutuality and that they devolve when they give into blind subservience.
Grief and Grievance
I’m not sure I can turn the grief I may feel on November 6 into a garden of compassion, as Rumi suggests. Keeping my heart open no matter what happens might be a challenge too great for me to handle to continue my search for love and wisdom. To prepare for the possibility of needing to confront that challenge, I thought it might be helpful to explore the reasons behind the grief I might feel…
American Myths and Realities
Homelessness, a harsh reality for millions of people around the world, is often shrouded in misconceptions. These myths create a barrier to understanding the complexities of the issue and hinder efforts to address the problems. This overview dismantles some of the most pervasive myths surrounding homelessness and reveals the human stories that lie beneath.
The Common Good
We have been reduced to a “whatever-it-takes-to win” mentality.
As a result, we have a rigged system that perpetuates inequality, enables economic elites, and undermines trust in institutions.
What it would take to increase commitment to the common good?
Change and Choice
In December of 2022, I attended a conference at the Harvard Executive Center in which I first learned about the stunning acceleration of AI by one of the leading computer science researchers in the world. At that time, Chat GPT had just been released. Since then, I started using AI to summarize the literature related to topics I was exploring. In that short amount of time, AI has evolved with mind-blowing speed. I’m going to Read More
The Material and the Ethereal
“In a way, you are poetry material; You are fully of cloudy subtleties I am willing to spend a lifetime figuring out. Words burst in your essence and you carry their dust in the pores of your ethereal individuality.” —Franz Kafka “The spirit-world around this senseFloats like an atmosphere, and everywhereWafts through these earthly mists and vapors denseA vital breath of ethereal air” —Henry Wadsworth Longfellow “Music is the ethereal connection between this world and the Read More
The Dangers of Demonization
I just listened to a brilliant podcast of Ezra Klein interviewing Zadie Smith, the best-selling author of White Teeth, On Beauty, and The Fraud. One comment from Zadie Smith really jumped out at me: “People aren’t terrible, systems are.” I might add that systems and culture are both problems that cause people to act terribly or suck them into terrible milieus. In any event, I highly recommend this podcast for its insights about how we Read More
Confidence and Competence
One of the best pieces of feedback I ever received was when an honest friend said, “Sometimes your confidence exceeds your competence.” As painful as that feedback was, it made me more conscious of the level of confidence I project when I assert an opinion or decide to take on a task for which I may not be entirely prepared. For example, I often observe myself giving directions or offering an opinion on a subject Read More
Locked and Loaded
“Locking” and “loading” refer to steps in preparing a machine gun to be fired: You first “lock” the bolt or safety and then “load” an ammunition cartridge or magazine. Figuratively, to be “locked and loaded” is to be fully prepared for aggressive action. As parents and grandparents, we are always looking for ways to keep our kids out of danger’s way and to avoid aggressive action. There are two messages I would love to Read More
The Price of Privilege
I was born with privilege. I think it’s fair to say that I grew up expecting things to go my way.
While it is true that privilege pays, there is also a price to pay for too much privilege.
Read more to find out what the cost of privilege is.
The Olympics of Culture Change
I must admit that I became somewhat obsessed with the Paris Olympics over its two week run. As I was watching the closing ceremonies, I was struck by the elegance and eloquence of the final speakers who were about to peacefully transfer the responsibilities for the 2028 Olympics to the United States. In a beautifully crafted and moving speech, Tony Estanquet, the Paris 24 President, led off: “With the first medals, a wave started building. Read More
Individual vs. Cultural
To get at the root cause of any problem, a helpful question to ask is, “is this problem primarily caused by an individual or is it the result of the culture in which the problem is occurring?” Answering that question fairly and accurately usually leads to a clearer perspective on the direction required to solve the problem. Perspective is important. During my morning meditation, I always give thanks for the First Light that occurred 14 Read More
Why We are Stuck in the Muck
It seems to me that the conditions for change have become much more challenging in the last 20 years.
Every day brings new stories of extremism growing, disinformation proliferating, inequality widening, and fear simmering. In the midst of growing trends and shrinking standards, the question is:
How do we get ourselves out of this muck?