Living Fully
Freedom, Goodness, Living Fully, The Right Stuff
SHE KNEW WHY THE CAGED BIRD SINGS AND SHE TWEETED
America lost one of its great citizens yesterday. Poet, writer, civil rights activist and all around amazing grace gal Maya Angelou died at the age of 86. Her work touched people across all socio-ecomnomic and racial divides. Though she first became famous for writing about her personal experiences of growing up in the Jim Crow south, her openness, heartfelt prose and ability to wrangle the human experience in her own poetic language touched people all over the world for decades. I… Read More
Goodness, Living Fully, Love, Right Action, Understanding
To love. To be loved. To never forget your own insignificance. To never get used to the unspeakable violence and the vulgar disparity of life around you. To seek joy in the saddest places. To pursue beauty to its lair. To never simplify what is complicated or complicate what is simple. To respect strength, never power. Above all, to watch. To try and understand. To never look away. And never, never to forget.
Acceptance, Addictions, Clarity, Living Fully, Pain
A MASK FOR EVERY OCCASION
Master manipulator at your service. Oh. You don’t need to be manipulated? Okay. How about a liar? I’m a real good liar. Don’t need one of those either? Hmm. I know. How about a victim? I can play that role with the best of them. Wow really? Not that either. I thought for sure you’d want a victim. What do you want? Excuse me? You want me to just be me? Yeah that might be a problem. Who am… Read More
Hanging In There, Living Fully, Mindfulness
GOING THE DISTANCE
You hear that phrase a lot these days. Sometimes it’s about finances. There’s a particularly unpleasant commercial that shows people being given pieces of ribbon that equals their financial preparedness. They’re all shocked to find the savings or retirement plan they thought would carry them to the end of their days only lasts till they’re 67 or 71 or some date that’s quickly approaching. It’s fear as a marketing tool. And it probably works. Going the distance has sweeter… Read More
Action, Happiness, Living Fully
A LIFE WELL LIVED
I don’t know if it’s my age, or just matters of circumstance, but I have been faced with what feels like more than the average number of deaths this last year. Close friends, not so close acquaintances, strangers who felt like I knew them, plus the disintegrating health of many older people in my immediate circle. Death and taxes, the only two things we can count on, the old saying goes. And indeed it is true. When I think about… Read More
Ego, Gratitude, Living Fully, Mindfulness
THE ILLUSION OF TOP BANANA
I’m making up a new word. Dis-attractive. It’s to describe the highly addictive cyber candy right there at our fingertips every day. You can open up your browser and lose yourself in the maze of information, gossip, shocking celebrity behavior, fashion disasters or conspiracy theories. It’s Alice down the rabbit hole of “Search”. It’s an easy place to miss-place huge hunks of our lives. And there is little on line more compelling than the sight of our own name in… Read More