Personal Growth
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Home
The ache for home lives in all of us, the safe place where we can go as we are and not be questioned. Maya Angelou Each month, my Unitarian church chooses a theme that influences everything from the Sunday readings to ministers’ sermons. The goal is to push us deeper into our own spiritual practices… Continue reading
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Too Much of a Thing
Where is the Life we have lost in living? Where is the wisdom we have lost in knowledge? Where is the knowledge we have lost in information? T. S. Eliot Despite more than four decades working in technology, I am not an up-to-date gadgets guy. I tend to hold on to devices long after most… Continue reading
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Podcast Episode: The Things We Keep, The Stories They Tell
Note. The underlying article can be found at https://ajprokop.com/2026/09/07/the-things-we-keep-the-stories-they-tell/ Pip: A coffee mug, a space-race tin, and a plastic cup from a baseball game that happened before some of our listeners were born — welcome to Can You Hear Me Now, where the objects on your desk apparently have opinions. Mara: Andrew Prokop’s recent writing… Continue reading
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The Things We Keep, The Stories They Tell
Humans think in stories, and we try to make sense of the world by telling stories. Yuval Noah Harari Frequent readers of my blog know that nostalgia plays a significant role in my writing. In fact, just last week in Lost in the In-Between I wrote, “I catch nostalgia like a cold.” While I don’t… Continue reading
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Podcast Episode: Lost in the In-Between
Note. The underlying article can be found at https://ajprokop.com/2026/08/31/lost-in-the-in-between/ Pip: There is a particular kind of melancholy that arrives in early September, right on schedule, whether you asked for it or not. Mara: Andrew Prokop is sitting with exactly that feeling in this episode — the uneasy space between what was and what’s coming, from… Continue reading
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Lost in the In-Between
I feel the taste of summer’s last kissa fond farewella sad goodbyeher warm embrace wears scarlet wingsriding retreat on cool autumn breezes Andrew Prokop It’s not even September and yet I feel the mutterings of autumn. The sun is slightly lower in the sky. The sumacs are already turning red and orange. The loons have… Continue reading
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Podcast Episode: The Made Bed and Other Tales of Transformation
Note. The underlying article can be found at https://ajprokop.com/2026/08/24/the-made-bed-and-other-tales-of-transformation/ Pip: There’s a podcast called Can You Hear Me Now, which is either a question about recovery and dignity or a very pointed complaint about cell service — and today, Andrew Prokop makes a case for the former. Mara: He does. Today’s episode is about how… Continue reading
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The Made Bed and Other Tales of Transformation
Dignity does not consist in possessing honors, but in deserving them. Aristotle Linda and I recently sat down for dinner with our friend, Keith. Keith is a retired social worker who previously managed housing for at-risk adults. His tenants included everyone from folks dealing with mental health issues to those with debilitating addictions. These people… Continue reading
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Podcast Episode: A Myth Understanding
Note. The underlying article can be found at https://ajprokop.com/2026/08/17/a-myth-understanding/ Pip: There’s a slab of concrete near a waterfall in Minneapolis, and the question of whether a president ever stood in it is doing more philosophical work than most graduate seminars. Mara: Andrew Prokop’s recent writing takes that question somewhere worth following — into what myths… Continue reading
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A Myth Understanding
A myth is a way of making sense in a senseless world. Myths are narrative patterns that give significance to our existence. Rollo May As many of my readers know, I am an avid biker — as in bicycles. With the exception of the rare rainy day cancellation, I ride from the spring thaw to… Continue reading
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Podcast Episode: Let it Go
Note. The underlying article can be found at https://ajprokop.com/2026/08/03/let-it-go/ Pip: There’s a podcast called Can You Hear Me Now, and today it has something to say about the things we protect so carefully we forget to actually use them. Mara: Andrew Prokop’s writing this week works through one central tension — holding on versus letting… Continue reading
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Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door
And were an epitaph to be my story I’d have a short one ready for my own. I would have written of me on my stone: I had a lover’s quarrel with the world. Robert Frost I am not the kind of guy who overthinks death. My life is too full and rich for that.… Continue reading
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The Boomer’s Guide to Surviving Technology
The only way to make sense out of change is to plunge into it, move with it, and join the dance. Alan Watts Every other Monday, my men’s retirement circle meets for connection, conversation, and friendship. It’s the most formal of all my groups, but the formality is still fairly loose. We begin with check-ins… Continue reading
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Podcast Episode: July Meditations, Reflections, Travelogue, and Scrapbook
Note: The underlying article can be found at https://ajprokop.com/2026/07/13/july-meditations-reflections-travelogue-and-scrapbook/ Pip: July — the month where some of us turn another year older, and at least one of us turns it into an entire philosophy of living. Mara: That’s the territory Andrew Prokop covers in his latest post — birthday inventory, a long-running Lake Superior tradition,… Continue reading
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July Meditations, Reflections, Travelogue, and Scrapbook
My life, I realize suddenly, is July. Childhood is June, and old age is August, but here it is, July, and my life, this year, is July inside of July. Rick Bass July is very important to me. First and foremost, it is the month I was born. It’s hard to imagine what Mom endured… Continue reading
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Redefining Productivity
You cannot hope to build a better world without improving the individuals. To that end, each of us must work for his own improvement and, at the same time, share a general responsibility for all humanity, our particular duty being to aid those to whom we think we can be most useful. Marie Curie During… Continue reading
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The Burden We Call Love
The burden which is well borne becomes light. Ovid At a recent gathering with a few male friends, our freewheeling conversation turned towards aging and caring for those who are no longer able to look after themselves. As is common, and somewhat expected with a group of white Americans, someone almost immediately said, “I don’t… Continue reading
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Podcast Episode: Where do the Children Play
Note: The underlying article can be found at Where do the Children Play. Pip: There’s a site called Can You Hear Me Now, which is either a meditation on human connection or a very long complaint about cell service — and today, Andrew Prokop makes the case that it’s definitely the former. Mara: Andrew Prokop’s latest… Continue reading
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Podcast Episode: Free Range Retirement
Note: The underlying article can be found at Free Range Retirement. Pip: There’s a quote that opens the post we’re covering today: “The trouble with retirement is that you never get a day off.” Which, honestly, sounds less like a warning and more like a sales pitch. Mara: Andrew Prokop is two years into retirement… Continue reading
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Free Range Retirement
The trouble with retirement is that you never get a day off. Abe Lemons I love a good coming of age story. It doesn’t matter if it comes in the form of a movie, book, or song. I love thinking about the transition from one way of living to something completely different. In many ways,… Continue reading
