Blog Posts — Page 4

“A ripple widening from a single stone – winding around the waters of the world.”Theodore Roethke “A person who leaves does not leave a void behind, but a glowing echo.”  Fatima Haggar Sometimes, it feels like life is just a series of shocks that constantly shake up our view of the world.  As I reflect on big events in American history like the Revolutionary War, the Civil War, World Wars I and II, the Korean […]

“Out of suffering have emerged the strongest souls; the most massive characters are seared with scars”. Kahlil Gibran Every great story has at least two narratives – the thing that is on the surface and then the things underneath which are invisible.  Ali Smith   One year ago, I wrote a post on Hanging on to Hope based on a song by Mumford and Sons.  It’s the song that helped my family get through 105 […]

I’ve been sharing perspectives and suggesting possibilities for over 10 years.  Lots has changed in that short span of time, and volumes of words have been written to describe the experience.  Instead of piling more opinions onto the heap, I will simply try to summarize the North Stars for my writing in as few words as possible.  Here’s my shortest post ever.   Perspective begins with the realization that we are one among 8 billion humans […]

“The real evils in war are love of violence, revengeful cruelty, fierce and implacable enmity, wild resistance, and the lust of power.”  Augustine “Remoteness from reality and thoughtlessness can wreak more havoc than all the evil instincts taken together.”  Hannah Arendt   It feels so futile to write this post.  People are trying so hard to survive this chaos, to find meaningful moments, and to stay afloat in the evil flooding the world.  In the […]

  Last weekend, I was talking to a brilliant professor at a prestigious university.  I asked him about his students’ state of well-being during these chaotic, cruel, and confusing times.  He expressed his concern that his students didn’t seem too affected by all the news in the outside world.  They were living their lives in their protected bubbles and were more concerned about their social lives than the sociopathic times in which they were living.  […]

It seems fair to say we have lost our way and don’t want to do the work to find our footing.  I am not alone in that belief.  Over 65% of Americans believe we are “seriously off on the wrong track.” Given our current reality, I was thinking about how it might be possible to renew our sense of purpose and restore a sense of common values that might help us find a path back […]

“Look up at the stars and not down at your feet. Try to make sense of what you see, and wonder about what makes the universe exist. Be curious.”  Stephen Hawking “He who can no longer pause to wonder and stand rapt in awe, is as good as dead; his eyes are closed.”  Albert Einstein   I’m not sure what’s more awe-inspiring—the wonder of impossibility or the wonder of possibility.  I spent my whole career […]

At precisely 8:30 every morning, my granddaughter says to me, “Just a reminder.  Good Morning, I Love You.”  Ahhh, what a way to start the day! Even though the greeting is technology-enabled (she programmed Alexa to make that announcement every morning), her spirit still comes shining through with all its warmth and beauty.  It’s hard to be grumpy when your morning begins with a reminder from your granddaughter that she loves you. In my morning […]

“When we quit thinking primarily about ourselves and our own self-preservation, we undergo a truly heroic transformation of consciousness.”  Joseph Campbell “Personal transformation can and does have global effects.  As we go, so goes the world, for the world is us.  The revolution that will save the world is ultimately a personal one.”  Marianne Williamson “When you are inspired by some great purpose, some extraordinary project, all of your thoughts break their bonds.  Your mind […]

  It seems like it’s becoming harder and harder to survive in the margins of society.  The conditions are more severe and the margin keeps getting larger.  Still, we need to hang onto hope.  To be specific, in the last 20 years the median income for households with less $30,000 in income fell by 12%.  Remember, if a person works 40 hours per week for 50 weeks of the year at $15 per hour, that […]

“There is pleasure in the pathless woods, there is rapture in the lonely shore, there is society where none intrudes, by the deep sea, and music in it’s roar.”  Lord Byron “All of connection is optimally rupture and repair.” Bonnie Badenroch   Well, it looks like instead of a rapture, we ended up with a rupture.  It remains to be seen how well we will be able to repair it.  I guess we are left […]

Here’s the big secret: It’s the fear of death that’s driving all this selfish behavior.  Research in evidence-based psychology suggests a strong link between fear of death and increased selfishness or self-centered behavior. Terror Management Theory (TMT) is a prominent framework that explains how the awareness of death leads individuals to prioritize self-preservation and self-interest to manage existential anxiety. Multiple studies have found that mortality reminders increase selfish behaviors and reduce prosocial actions, supporting the […]