Somehow, somewhere along the way, we as a society seem to have come to the belief that every person perceives every experience in the same way. The fact of individual experience, individual knowledge, individual background, individual resilience… these things all seem to be dismissed in favor of the belief that if X happens to little…
I just recently saw a quote about nothing being in the middle of the road except for double yellow lines and roadkill. My first thought was that you usually don’t see roadkill in the middle of the road but in the travel lanes instead. The double yellow lines are what separates traffic going in different…
Just last evening I was conversing with a friend of mine who commented on my (bad?) habit of posting photos to my Facebook page when I’m working “in my outside office.” I have a gazebo attached to my rear deck that enjoys views of the surrounding trees, sometimes the lake across the street and quite…
“Live a good life. If there are gods and they are just, then they will not care how devout you have been, but will welcome you based on the virtues you have lived by. If there are gods, but unjust, then you should not want to worship them. If there are no gods, then you…
Hardly a day goes by that I don’t speak with someone who is trying to figure out how to make it through the day. Now, keep in mind, most of them are exaggerating when they say they don’t know how they’re going to make it. What they really mean is that they are tired –…
Somewhere in my house (and I know exactly where) there are a series of notebooks full of my journal. Some of those entries date back to when I was as young as twelve years old. I refer to this collection of writings as a “journal” and not a diary, quite honestly, because in my adolescent…
When I was in my teenage years, I remember my father, almost every night, sitting on his bed, just staring into space… or at least, that’s what I thought. When I asked him about it one day he told me he was meditating. When I asked why and what about he told me that he…
In almost every culture, on every continent, in every language and throughout history you can find references to trilogies. I don’t mean the three-book novel stories that have become so prevalent in today’s entertainment world. I am referring to more meaningful trilogies such as…
The glory days of spring and summer have passed. The days are shorter, the nights are longer, the fires are warm and blankets are good. Snuggling occurs far more often. For all that, many people will tell you “spring” if you ask them what their favorite season is. They’ll cite the rebirth, the returning greenery,…
Every now and then I run across something in my social media feeds that make me stop and think… and then I start feeling like I have something to say – and you, my dear readers, suffer the outcome. In this case, there was a post that said (paraphrased) you can only be peaceful if…
In any given December you can hear people talk about the bad habits they’re going to quit as part of their New Year’s Resolutions. My biggest challenge with such statements is that the person is waiting for a specific day, as if they need the calendar’s permission for when to start. How about starting RIGHT…
Words have meaning. In a perfect world, the same word would have the same meaning to everyone. That alone would reduce the amount of miscommunication and misunderstandings that occur. We don’t live in a perfect world though, and those misthings occur. Just recently there was a conversation held, that was unfortunately (or fortunately?) overhead, and…
Have you ever wondered why or how someone particular got to be King or Queen? Sure, if you watch movies and assume any level of accuracy in them, some of the kings our world has seen become so through nothing more than force of violence. They were the strongest or they had the strongest army….
Is life a circle? Or is it a line? Does it matter? Why even think about it? Just recently I ran across some memes that had me wondering about the mindset they presuppose and the overall tone, be it positive, negative or somewhat neutral. They started me thinking about Body’s Cycle – the humane decision…
As this is being written, the author is sitting comfortably inside on a Sunday morning. It’s 85F outside but about 70F inside. Yesterday, a Saturday, the temperatures reached 99F with a “real feel” of over 110F. Early yesterday morning there were a few boys and girls club sports teams practicing and every coach, every parent…
Why would anyone want to learn anything from Jeff Bezos? Who is this guy and what makes his leadership lessons of any value? Jeff Bezos is the founder, chairman, CEO and president of Amazon.com, Inc. At the age of 55 (as this is written) he has a reported net worth of just under $165 Billion. For…
Most of my readership knows I’ve written before about how age is simply a number. All too often people seem to carry beliefs that some capabilities and disabilities accompany certain ages. We expect children to start walking at a certain age, give or take a month. We expect them to start talking (coherently) at a…
What is it with people and bucket lists? I mean, I get it. Sure. You make this list of things you want to do before you die. You make a list of experiences you want to have, places you want to go, etc. I get it. But here’s my question: When do you actually start…
You know (literally, many of you know) I love to write. Even as a young boy in my preteen years I enjoyed writing. I realized way back then that I could write anything I could imagine and my writing had to be sufficiently articulate to describe what I was imagining; detailed enough to insure that…
Or not private enough? “Don’t air your dirty laundry in public.” It’s an old and wise saying. When there are problems at home, at work, at school, in a friendship, whatever – it’s not usually a good idea to just share those problems willy-nilly with anyone who will stand still long enough to listen. While…