Author: Rick Bellingham

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

“The possession of knowledge does not kill the sense of wonder and mystery.  There is always more mystery.”  Anais Nin, French novelist “Mystery creates wonder and wonder is the basis of man’s desire to understand.”  Neil Armstrong, American astronaut “Don’t become a mere recorder of facts, but try to penetrate the mystery of their origin.”  Ivan Pavlov, Russian neurologist (as in Pavlov’s dog.)   The best miracles I’ve experienced in my life are the thriving Read More

“We are detracted from distraction by distraction.”  T.S. Eliot   I was sitting on the porch reading with my grandson when he noticed that I had copied down the T.S. Eliot quote I had found in Paul Tillich’s classic book, The Courage to Be.  He asked me what I had written, and I shared the quote with him.  In a flash, he responded: “So if I’m playing a video game and Grammy asks me if Read More

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

“The ideal man bears the accidents of life with dignity and grace, making the best of circumstances.”  Aristotle “I do not understand the mystery of grace – only that it meets us where we are but does not leave us where it found us.”  Anne Lamont   Over a career spanning six decades, I have had the good fortune of working with hundreds of organizations.  My favorite among all of them has been the Grand Read More

“Grief can be the garden of compassion.  If you keep your heart open through everything, your pain can become your greatest ally in your life’s search for love and wisdom.”  Rumi   Last week, in my post on myths and realities, I discussed the importance of making fact-based decisions and judgments.  In this post, I want to explore the importance of understanding the feelings driving those decisions and judgments.  Since these days it seems like Read More

“The Party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears.  It was their final, most essential command.”  George Orwell About 5 years ago, I wrote a post on leadership myths and realities based on a book I co-authored with Dr. Barry Cohen over 30 years ago.  Since that time, misinformation and disinformation have spread like wildfire creating a pervasive smoke that obscures reality.  Making accurate discriminations about what is true and what Read More

“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

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

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

“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

“When you arise in the morning, think of what a precious privilege it is to be alive – to breathe, to think, to enjoy, to love.”  Marcus Aurelius.   “When you’re accustomed to privilege, parity and equity, and equality may feel like oppression.”  Raphael Warnock    I was born with privilege.  I’m white.  I’m male.   I have a relatively healthy body and mind.   I was raised by kind and loving parents.  I grew up in Read More

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

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

“Nothing is true and everything is possible.”  Hannah Arendt   In my local community, I see signs like “No woke zone” and “God’s got this.”   To me, those two posters translate into “Around here, we don’t welcome new ideas and we externalize all responsibility for change.”  You get the idea—the conditions for effective systems change in my town are not exactly conducive for bold thinking and doing things differently.  In a broader context, systems change Read More

“I have realized that the past and future are real illusions, that they exist in the present, which is what there is and all there is.”  Alan Watts “I don’t have to chase extraordinary moments to find happiness – it’s right in front of me if I’m paying attention and practicing gratitude.”  Brene Brown “Life isn’t a matter of milestones, but of moments.”  Rose Kennedy “If you abandon the present moment, you cannot live the Read More

Released almost 50 years ago, in the aftermath of the American War in Vietnam, this song by Kansas still captures our experience today.    Carry on my wayward son There’ll be peace when you are done Lay your weary head to rest Don’t you cry no more   Once I rose above the noise and confusion Just to get a glimpse of this illusion I was soaring ever higher But I flew too high Though Read More

“A dictator may hereafter arise, who laying hold of popular disquietudes, may collect together the desperate and the discontented, and by assuming to themselves the powers of government, may sweep away the liberties of the continent like a deluge.” Thomas Paine, 1776 “If we are to have another contest of our national existence, I predict that the dividing line will not be Mason and Dixon’s but between patriotism and intelligence on the one side, and Read More

  “To know what you know and what you do not know, that is true knowledge.”  Confucius “There is no longer any such thing as fiction or nonfiction; there’s only narrative.  E.L Doctorow “I like moral judgment to emerge from the reader.  We are being sold a very simplistic morality by our leaders at a time when nuance and understanding are at a premium.”  Hari Kunzru   As a way to recover from the nightmare Read More