Acceptance
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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
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It’s Life’s Illusions I Recall
It is better to have your head in the clouds, and know where you are than to breathe the clearer atmosphere below them, and think that you are in paradise. Henry David Thoreau Every so often I play the same song over and over again. For the past two days, I have done that with… Continue reading
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The White Space of Life
The Road goes ever on and onDown from the door where it began.Now far ahead the Road has gone,And I must follow, if I can,Pursuing it with eager feet,Until it joins some larger wayWhere many paths and errands meet.And whither then? I cannot say. J. R. R. Tolkien I became enamored with East Indian culture… Continue reading
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The Artist or the Art
This is the artist, then, life’s hungry man, the glutton of eternity, beauty’s miser, glory’s slave. Tom Wolfe Once upon a time I called Woody Allen’s Manhattan his greatest film. From the black and white cinematography to the Gershwin score to the cutting edge humor to the spot on directing, it was a masterpiece of… Continue reading
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Baggage
A person is like a city. You shouldn’t let a few less desirable parts put you off the whole. There may be bits you don’t like, a few dodgy side streets and suburbs, but the good stuff makes it worthwhile. Matt Haig I have a friend who signed up with an online dating service. She… Continue reading
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Death Does Not Become Me
Someone has to die in order that the rest of us should value life more. Virginia Woolf I remember the day my then 80ish-year-old father said, “Everyone I know is dead or dying.” I am many years shy of that age, but I am starting to experience more death than I care for. In the… Continue reading
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My Mental Illness is my Superpower
There is no standard normal. Normal is subjective. There are seven billion versions of normal on this planet. Matt Haig A few years ago I was asked if I had a mental illness. The reason for the question is not important to this article, but the question is. This was a trusted friend who was… Continue reading
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All I Have to Fear
Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure. The fearful are caught as often as the bold. Hellen Keller Just for fun, I went to Very Well Mind and glanced through the many phobias and fears it describes. Some were pretty amazing and several downright surprising. For example, who knew there were people… Continue reading
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I Am More Comely Than You
Beauty awakens the soul to act. Dante Alighieri Several years ago I heard an interesting program on Minnesota Public Radio’s “Speaking of Faith.” The host, Krista Tippett, and her guest were discussing myths and stories from ancient times. One that really struck me had to do with desire between men and women. The story went that a woman… Continue reading
