Author: Rick Bellingham
Letter to my Grandchildren
Dear Annie and Ezra, I would like to share some thoughts and feelings with you that have helped me on my journey. You will have to find your own path, but these insights may help you find your way. In some ways it is a primer on how to build a soul. You probably won’t read much about that possibility in your educational pursuits. As you go through life, you are going to encounter many Read More
Pretending
Our dog, Henri, is a big, brown Labradoodle with a loud, deep, fear-inducing bark that would give anyone pause to intrude uninvited. When we take him on a walk he prances loud and proud pretending he is the master of the universe. The truth is that he is a compliant wimp who wouldn’t hurt a flea.
Hubris and Hyperbole
“Hyperbole is not easily dealt with. Usually, it collapses under its own weight.” —Gwen Ifill “Hubris is one of the great renewable resources.” —P.J. O’Rourke “Those who can make you believe absurdities, can make you commit atrocities” —Voltaire My little town in Northern Michigan is conducting a capital campaign to raise 5 million dollars for a library expansion. The current library is situated on a beautiful island in a pristine community on lovely Lake Michigan. Read More
Organizational Sepsis
My granddaughter, Annie, was born at 26 weeks, weighed one and a half pounds, and had sepsis. The best Doctors in the world took a wild (but educated) guess on a broad spectrum antibiotic that might cure the infections, the best nurses in the world gave her 24/7 loving care to keep alive any speck of life they could find, and her family held her in their hearts constantly. Annie fought for her life and Read More
Righteous and Wrong
One of my grandson’s favorite expressions when he gets angry is, “What The!” At nine years old, he probably knows how to complete the exclamation, but he’s not crass enough or bold enough to do it. So let me do it for him. WHAT THE FUCK!!! Last week, I wrote about how Dumbledore’s Army, led by Harry Potter, fought Voldemort’s forces of evil. (https://rickbellingham.com/2021/01/05/harry-potter-the-enneagram-and-2020/). Yesterday, the world witnessed Trump’s Army assaulting the Capitol in an Read More
Harry Potter, the Enneagram, and 2020
“For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, but lose his soul?” Mark 8:36 One of the highlights of 2020 for me was reading all of the Harry Potter books to my twin grandkids. The seven books contain a total of 198 chapters, over 6,000 pages and over 1 million words. Essentially, I read four chapters a week for the entire year. I am proud to say that Annie Read More
Spiritual Leadership
After searching for great leaders around the world, I stumbled across some of the best I have ever found in Traverse City, Michigan—a humble community bordering one of the Great Lakes. Really, I’m not exaggerating. I’ve worked with leaders in Asia, Europe, Africa, Latin America, and North America and, just when I was about to retire in this pristine Northern Michigan community, I accidentally encountered the most inspiring leaders I have ever met. Who knew? Read More
Grounded AND Unbounded
I’ve always admired people who could capture baffling complexities with elegant simplicity. As I have mentioned in several posts, George Gurdjieff has been one of those people in my life. Since he died in 1949, I never had a chance to meet him, but I spent many hours reading his books and books about him. Gurdjieff described humans as three-brained beings reproducing on the planet earth who engage in reciprocal destruction.
Courage and Confidence
“If you are lucky enough to find a way of life you love, you have to find the courage to live it.” John Irving “Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one’s courage.” Anais Nin “The secret to happiness is freedom . . . . . and the secret to freedom is courage.” Thucydides “Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go.” T.S. Read More
Shared Reality
“Perception is real even when it is not reality.” Edward DeBono “If you don’t know where you’re going, any road will take you there”… George Harrison https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r8fFdc-karA Every Monday for the past two months I have stood next to the highway in my tiny village of Elk Rapids, Michigan with my fellow democrats waving Biden signs to passersby. Therefore, I’m taking some infinitesimally small piece of credit for our victory on November 3rd. More importantly, Read More
Intuitive Individualism
“The limits of my language means the limits of my world.” Ludwig Wittgenstein My 8 year old grandkids have limits to their language, but when asked profound questions they come up with surprisingly expansive views of the world. In response to the question, What does God mean to you?” my granddaughter said “it’s like a peacock – a majestic being that spreads beauty in the world.” My grandson replied, “it’s a muggle-made myth.” If you Read More
Fission or Fusion
I’ve always believed we have a lot to learn from physics, biology and math. Our individual and organizational behaviors often mimic the natural sciences. Humans have only been around for a couple of hundred thousand of years, but the laws of physics have been operating for 14 billion years. Perhaps we should learn from the natural laws that brought us to this place. Fusion and fission are a good place to start. Fusion occurs when Read More