Uncategorized

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 be 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

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

I’ve been thinking about what it takes to create the conditions for lasting change.  For example, many countries around the world have taken on the challenge of promoting freedom, equality, liberty, and justice.  While there have been signs of progress in different places at different points in time, it sure seems to me that we have been losing ground lately.  As I was reading Doris Kearns Goodwin’s new book, An Unfinished Love Story, it struck Read More

“Water is fluid, soft, and yielding.  But water will wear away rock, which is rigid and cannot yield. As a rule, whatever is fluid, soft, and yielding will overcome whatever is rigid and hard. This is another paradox: what is soft is strong.”  Lao Tzu, Tao Te Ching “The gentle overcomes the rigid.  The slow overcomes the fast.  The weak overcomes the strong.  Everyone knows that the yielding overcomes the stiff, and the soft overcomes Read More

“The great art of life is sensation, to feel that we exist, even in pain.”  Lord Byron “At night, when the sky is full of stars and the sea is still, you get the wonderful sensation that you are floating in space.”  Natalie Wood   I’ve been sitting on the idea of beginning each day with a series of sensational experiences for about a year, struggling with how to turn the idea into a post.  Read More

Forty years ago, 7 couples in Basking Ridge, New Jersey, decided to start a book group.  The first book we chose was 1984 by George Orwell, because it happened to be the year we began.  The group is still meeting.   Aging, but still reading and discussing.  We met once a month for 34 years until deaths and relocations caused a pause.  At the end of each meeting, the couple designated to host the next group Read More

For my 75th birthday, a friend gave me a T-Shirt with a quote on the front  by Walt Whitman:  “Resist Much, Obey Little.”  I get more comments on that T-shirt than any other I regularly wear.  And I wear a lot of T-shirts.  Just the other day, another friend took a picture of my well-worn sartorial statement, and said she was going to order one just like it.  The quote “Resist much, obey little” appears Read More

I was recently browsing through some files and stumbled across a piece I had written in April 2013, before I started writing this blog.  It was a reflection about a trip I had taken to the Holy Land to deepen my understanding of Jewish history, to get a better understanding of the conflict brewing there, and to discover some potential paths to peace.  I thought I would share it here because it still seems relevant.   Read More

What if there was a magic pill that filled you with hope, fueled your innovative juices, and enabled you to trust the people and organizations that impact your life? Sadly, there’s no magic pill, but this possibility is a choice you can make.  In this post, I want to suggest that you have the power to create norms of your own choosing…

The underlying cause of many of our overlaying issues is our culturally reinforced tendency to be more emphatic than empathic.  In this post, I explore this idea more deeply through asking some key questions.

Even though there are dozens of columns describing the recent protests through different sets of lenses, I decided to share my perspective because I was involved in the seeds of this movement 56 years ago in Vietnam.

America was founded with the purpose of creating liberty and justice for all.  Millions of people around the country pledge their allegiance to that purpose in schools, athletic events, and government meetings still today.  And yet, based on budget allocations, the US is essentially an insurance company with a military.  What does that say about our purpose? 

On April 8, 2024, the day of the Great Eclipse, people around the world experienced the differential effects of identity and infinity.  Children, adults, republicans, democrats, blacks, browns, and whites all experienced the magical, mystical and mysterious possibilities in our ever-expanding universe.  This is what happens when infinity dominates. 

“Freedom makes a huge requirement of every human being.  With freedom comes responsibility.  For the person who is unwilling to grow up, the person who does not want to carry his or her own weight, this is a frightening prospect.”  —Eleanor Roosevelt “Freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed.” —Martin Luther King, Jr. “It is difficult to free fools from the chains they revere.”  —Voltaire “The only Read More

“Donald, following the lead of my grandfather and with the complicity, silence, and inaction of his siblings, destroyed my father.  I can’t let him destroy my country.”  Mary L. Trump “I came to poetry through the urgent need to denounce injustice, exploitation, and humiliation.  I know that’s not enough to change the world.  But to remain silent would have been an intolerable complicity.”  Tahar Ben Jelloun, a Moroccan writer One of my favorite songs is Read More

“The wise man looks into space, and does not regard the small as too little, not the great as too big; for he knows that there is no limit to dimensions.”  Lao Tsu A dear friend of mine just passed away.  She was 76 years old and had been struggling with dementia.  She recently suffered a fall and related complications.  She died in peace in a beautiful hospice setting surrounded by her loving family.  She Read More

“These are the times that try men’s souls.”  Thomas Paine “The science of psychology has been far more successful on the negative side than on the positive side . . . It has revealed to us much about human shortcomings, illnesses, and sins, but little about human potentialities, virtues, aspirations, or health.”  Abraham Maslow “We cannot seek achievement for ourselves and forget about progress and prosperity for our community.  Our ambitions must be broad enough Read More