Acceptance
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Rising to the Level of Love
Kindness in words creates confidence. Kindness in thinking creates profoundness. Kindness in giving creates love. Tao Tzu I recently finished reading Luis Alberto Urrea’s The House of Broken Angels. Like most books I read these days, I found it in one of the many Little Free Libraries scattered around my neighborhood. Thankfully, I live among… Continue reading
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Unraveling the Knots
People ask me what I do in winter when there’s no baseball. I’ll tell you what I do. I stare out the window and wait for spring. Roger Hornsby A couple weeks ago, I wrote of learning how to ice skate after decades of unrequited love. It was a feel good story about overcoming hesitations… Continue reading
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Banana, Sunset, Chair
Yes, Mother. I can see you are flawed. You have not hidden it. That is your greatest gift to me. Alice Walker Last week I had my Medicare Wellness Check. For those of you not on Medicare, it’s a yearly visit with your doctor to evaluate your health both physically and emotionally. In addition to… Continue reading
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A 42-Year Ride
I left the ending ambiguous, because that is the way life is. Bernardo Bertolucci One of my last good friends at Avaya was laid off last week. Although he and I only worked on the same project team for the last four years of my employed life, we share a history of jobs, customers, conventions,… Continue reading
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The Sessions
Those who have never known the deep intimacy and the intense companionship of mutual love have missed the best thing that life has to give. Bertrand Russell This article deals with things of a sexual nature and I use words that may be upsetting to some of my readers. Feel free to stop now if… Continue reading
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The Biblical Case for LGBTQ+ Rights
The longer you’re in one place, the harder it is to leave. Gene Clark I should not be surprised at the hate and vitriol that continues to come from the Republican party, but this newish bit of garbage blew me away. Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky recently said that former CDC director Demetre Daskalakis “had… Continue reading
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Living the Dream
A dream you dream alone is only a dream. A dream you dream together is reality. Yoko Ono Excluding some slight poetic license, the following is a true story. My head must have been a thousand miles away when I was startled out of my thoughts with a loud, “We’re livin’ the dream, Andrew. Livin’… Continue reading
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Accept Forgive Heal
Healing is a matter of time, but it is sometimes also a matter of opportunity. Hippocrates Every Wednesday, I gather with a group of similarly aged men to catch up on our lives and talk about whatever it is that crosses our minds. While we sometimes drift into politics and how messed up the world… Continue reading
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Get Off My Lawn
I’ll know my song well before I start singing. Bob Dylan I like to say that I catch nostalgia like a cold. It grabs hold of me and clouds my senses with illusions and fantasies. Play Me and You and a Dog Named Boo and I’m 13-years-old driving in the car with Dad up to… Continue reading
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All the World is Birthday Cake
You know you’re getting old when the candles cost more than the cake. Bob Hope Last week I had another one of those birthday things. It wasn’t one that ends in zero, so it didn’t have the gravitas of a big transition. Still, I am of the belief that even these lesser-milestone birthdays are special… Continue reading
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Through Another’s Eyes
There are children playing in the streets who could solve some of my top problems in physics, because they have modes of sensory perception that I lost long ago. J. Robert Oppenheimer After hearing my youngest daughter-in-law rave about it, I bought the game Do You Really Know Your Family. The game is comprised of… Continue reading
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The Unselfish Vegetarian
People often say that humans have always eaten animals, as if this is a justification for continuing the practice. According to this logic, we should not try to prevent people from murdering other people, since this has also been done since the earliest of times. Isaac Bashevis Singer I was listening to The Splendid Table… Continue reading
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Entirely Ready
I have to be composed; I have to be poised. I have to remember what my first piano teacher told me: ‘You do not touch that piano until you are ready and until they are ready to listen to you. Nina Simone It has been a few months since I wrote A Fearless and Moral… Continue reading
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The Art of No
Letting go helps us to to live in a more peaceful state of mind and helps restore our balance. It allows others to be responsible for themselves and for us to take our hands off situations that do not belong to us. This frees us from unnecessary stress. Melody Beattie In 1964, as an 8th… Continue reading
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Time Beyond, Time Without
Life and death are one thread, the same line viewed from different sides. Lao Tzu It has been said that there are five stages of grief: Denial, bargaining, depression, anger, and acceptance. Today is the second anniversary of my brother Bob’s death and since waking this morning I’ve felt every one of them to one… Continue reading
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Sought Through Prayer and Meditation: Help, Thanks, Wow
I close my eyes, then I drift away, into the magic night I softly say. A silent prayer, like dreamers do, then I fall asleep to dream my dreams of you. Roy Orbison My history with prayer has not been a good one. I was raised Catholic and rather than prayer being a means to… Continue reading
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The Joy of Just Enough
Find ecstasy in life; the mere sense of living is joy enough. Emily Dickenson It used to be that if you asked me what I wanted I would have said “everything.” It didn’t matter if I earned the right to make such a statement. I wanted what I wanted and I expected everyone to understand… Continue reading
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Emotional Tattoos
In Hinduism, Shiva is a deity who represents transformation. Through destruction and restoration, Shiva reminds us that endings are beginnings, and that our world is constantly undergoing a cycle of birth, death and rebirth. Karen Salmansohn Not too long ago I heard an interview with the director of the 2013 movie The Place Beyond the… Continue reading
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The Price of Privacy: A Devil’s Bargain
Man is an animal that makes bargains: no other animal does this – no dog exchanges bones with another. Adam Smith LinkedIn recently suggested that I congratulate one of my connections on his work anniversary. This kind of message isn’t out of the ordinary — social media, after all, is all about building, strengthening and… Continue reading
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A To-Do List for a Better Life
We don’t need a list of rights and wrongs, tables of dos and don’ts: we need books, time, and silence. “Thou shalt not” is soon forgotten, but “Once upon a time” lasts forever. Phillip Pullman A much younger me believed I was in control of my fate. I lived life with the notion that whatever I was and wherever… Continue reading
Can You Hear Me Now 