Tag: Vietnam
Questioning Orthodoxy
“There is a crack in everything. That’s how the light gets in.” —Leonard Cohen I just watched three new movies: Little Women, directed by Greta Gerwig, A Hidden Life, directed by Terrence Malick, and Two Popes, directed by Fernando Meirelles. All three spoke to the importance of questioning orthodoxy in different times and different places. Little Women was set in the mid-19th century in New England. It’s a wonderful, big-hearted movie that pays homage to Read More
Possibilists
“Optimism is the faith that leads to achievement. Nothing can be done without hope and confidence.” —Helen Keller “Pessimism is a luxury that a Jew can never allow himself.” —Golda Meir Optimists believe that desired results will occur no matter what the facts may portend. Pessimists believe that bad results will occur no what the facts may indicate. Possibilists believe that desired results can happen given the right conditions and the right amount of work. Read More
Conflict Clarity
“Whenever you’re in conflict with someone, there is one factor that can make the difference between damaging your relationship and deepening it. That factor is attitude.” —William James We all face conflicts in life. Conflicts occur then people have different points of view, values, and principles. There is no way we can avoid conflicts. We can develop a healthy attitude toward conflict, however, that enables us to calmly view differences as opportunities for growth. Healthy Read More
Peace Babies
I learned what it was like to live in a first-world country over the past two weeks: no litter, no homelessness, on-time bullet trains, state-of-the-art communications, universal health care, and lower levels of inequality and crime than almost any developed country. Less than 1 civilian in 100 owns a gun compared to 127 guns per 100 civilians in the United States. And children have affordable access to quality education from Pre-K (starting at 2 years Read More
The Menace of Mendacity
Whoever is careless with the truth in small matters cannot be trusted with important matters. —Albert Einstein There are only two mistakes one can make along the road to truth; not going all the way, and not starting. —Buddha Truth is not a trivial thing. Words matter. Being accurate requires curiosity, diligence, and rigor. I know that everyone has a different idea about what is truth. Much of the debate started when Pontius Pilate asked Read More
Marketing and Leadership
“When you are made a leader, you aren’t given a crown; you are given the responsibility to bring out the best in others.” —Jack Welch, Former CEO of General Electric There is an old adage that leaders are born not made. That myth became popular as people observed that most leaders had personality traits such as intelligence, charisma, attractive appearance, and confidence. I believe the truth is that effective leaders are typically born AND made, Read More
Disruption, Destruction, and Distraction
Independence Day 2017 “Power can be very addictive, and it can be corrosive. And it’s important for the media to call to account people who abuse their power, whether it be here or elsewhere.” —George W. Bush, 2017 Disruption can be for better for worse. Luckily for me, the two major disruptions in my life turned out for the better. In 1968, at age 23, I was sent to Vietnam as a soldier in Military Read More
Quests and Questions
As long as humans have told stories, we’ve shared tales about people going on quests. There is a long list of these tales about quests of one sort or another in history and in literature. Here are a few of the more famous quests. About 2,000 BC, Gilgamesh embraced the quest to find the secret to eternal life. He started out as a cruel despot who raped any women he fancied. After losing his best Read More
Wonder and Wondering
In 1968, I met Stephen Williams at Fort Holabird, Maryland, where we were both enrolled in Army Spy School.
Making Love
Don’t get excited. This is not a sex post or a guide to more exciting intercourse. Although I am a fan of great sex, this post deals with making love to life – in simple, everyday ways that don’t require expensive props or bundles of money. It’s simply an attitude and a choice. I should preface this post by saying that I was a participant in the “Make Love, Not War” movement in the 60s. Read More
Freedom
It’s a terrible feeling and a freeing experience to have your illusions destroyed. As I walked down the streets of Saigon and watched the army trucks full of terrified, tough kids purposely drive through mud puddles so that they could laugh gleefully as the brown, polluted water splashed randomly on the elegant, white, long dresses of the beautiful Vietnamese women I knew my view of the world had been irrevocably shaken. In the name of Read More