Author: Rick Bellingham

I was recently inspired to write a poem after participating in a meeting with our Downtown Development Association and Doug Griffiths, author of 13 Ways to Kill a Community.  We were discussing change challenges and how to deal with detractors and resistors to proposals aimed at transforming our seasonal community to one in which there is a chance for sustainable growth.  In the discussion, a metaphor emerged of the river and the rocks.    This metaphor Read More

At a recent Village Council meeting in my small town, I implored the elected officials to consider, in their deliberations about policy decisions, the differential effects of anachronistic thinking vs. possibilistic thinking as well as the differential effects of interdependent relating vs. competitive unrelating.  I assume that, in pondering the challenge, they came to one of three conclusions: What is this guy talking about? Where is this pompous ass coming from? Hmm, I wonder how Read More

I recently listened to an excellent podcast by Ezra Klein on the withdrawal from Afghanistan.  He discusses with Robert Wright, the author of Nonzero – a newsletter that examines the assumptions that drive America’s foreign policy – our policy failures in Afghanistan over the past 20 years after an investment of 2 trillion dollars and deaths of over 200,000 people.  Their discussion delves into the deep history of American involvement in Afghanistan, reveals the unacknowledged Read More

My small, hometown community recently sponsored an event called “What Unites Us.”  The event started with free sundaes in the park and concluded with a drum dance on the beach.  People in the community made signs indicating what they believed unified us, and we used those signs to make a pathway from the park to the beach.  Drums (green buckets) and drumsticks were placed in a circle with hula hoops in the middle.  Everyone was Read More

In our little town in Northern Michigan, a neighbor put up a sign that read “NO WOKE ZONE”  (code for “I hate liberal, establishment elites’).  At first, I thought it said “NO WORK ZONE,” but the message is the same in either case – “I am willfully ignorant and refuse to do the work to find the truth.”  Yes, being woke can go too far, but to me, it simply means “I’m open to uncomfortable Read More

In this post, I’m going to address the question of how to persuade someone with power to make a sacrifice for the common good.  It seems to me that this is one of the most intractable problems in history.  For thousands of years, people with power have been more likely to impose their will on others than to shift positions through persuasion.  Let’s start with some provocative voices on power and persuasion.  “When the whole Read More

I know about running for cover.  When I heard bullets whistling over my head on guard duty in Vietnam, my instincts kicked in. I ducked down into my sandbag bunker for safety and protection.  To be clear, I was defending an apartment building with high walls in Saigon – not hacking through the dense jungle exposed to sniper attacks, venomous snakes and nasty traps.  Still, I experienced the natural instinct to shrink down and protect Read More

I’m reeling from violence I’m kneeling in silence I’m healing my damaged soul I’ve been reeling from a sense of loss I’ve seen kneeling for the Southern cross So many are healing from a toxic boss I’ve been thrown off balance from low blows I’ve seen submission before turned up noses We all need healing from hate and hoses I’ve staggered badly from drunken days I’ve seen kneeling to maleficent ways I’ve known healing from Read More

In 1984, my wife, my first daughter, and I drove to JFK Airport to pick up our second daughter – Jang Hee JInn – fresh off a flight from Seoul Korea.   She was a 3 month old bundle of wonder.  I dropped the camera in my eagerness to welcome this new child from the Korean caretaker who had nurtured her lovingly for the long flight.  We named her Emily Jane.  I’m writing this post to Read More

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

“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

“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

“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