- Blog
- Profile
- Homepage
-
Courting Tragedy: Reflecting on the Rittenhouse & Arbery Trials
I’ve spent a awful lot of time watching Court TV this month with the Kyle Rittenhouse trial in Wisconsin and the Ahmaud Arbery murder trial in Georgia. I can’t immediately recall two trials of this magnitude coming back to back like this, nor situations touching simultaneously on so many social, legal and political issues —…
-
Mindfulness, Happiness & ‘RAIN’
“Don’t fret. Everything’s going to be OK.” That’s a helpful advice for someone, isn’t it? Yeah, sometimes. But sometimes not. I read a commentary last week in the Wall Street Journal about “toxic positivity.” Elizabeth Bernstein wrote that “forcing ourselves or others to always be positive can be harmful to our well-being and our relationships.”…
-
Beautiful Holden Arboretum
Two years ago David and I spent a truly delightful day at Holden Arboretum in Kirtland, Ohio, east of Cleveland. It was a beautiful, clear and crisp Sunday afternoon in October. I wasn’t retired yet and was swamped in work, so I never compiled and posted this blog entry. Better late than never! If you…
-
Nightmare on Glasgow Street
Glasgow, Climate Change & Capitalism: A true Halloween horror. An article in today’s New York Times drives home the depth of the climate change crisis. It’s not that we can’t deal with it — yet — but there’s little chance we will be. Certainly not in time to avoid catastrophic consequences that will fall especially hard on…
-
Carl Sagan on Mindfulness & Gratitude
Carl Sagan, the preeminent scientist behind the landmark PBS Cosmos series that aired in 1980, was interviewed by Charlie Rose a few months before his death in 1996. I watched it on YouTube over the weekend. It was his last TV interview. Sagan died of complications from myelodysplasia. He was promoting his latest book, The…
-
When Life Gives You Lemons… My Journey Meets Cancer
My diagnosis came on September 1st: Stage 2 Prostate Cancer. Before I go any further, let me assure friends and extended family hearing for the first time that I’m in no immediate danger. To the best of our knowledge the cancer is contained and has not spread. Doctors believe we’ve found it early enough that…
-
Coming Out Day 2021
Today is National Coming Out Day, an annual observance of LGBT Pride and Coming Out that dates back to the National March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights held on October 11, 1987. Over 300,000 marched for a set of demands including protection against discrimination. This was just after the 1986 U.S. Supreme Court…
-
Happiness & the Peaceful Warrior’s Way
When I announced the new format and focus for this blog last week, I added the tagline “The journey is what brings us happiness, not the destination.” This and more valuable guidance comes from Dan Millman. He has become a favorite spiritual teacher to me. In his youth, Dan was a star athlete in trampoline…
-
For the Record: On ‘Bodies With Vaginas’
I feel a need to go on record regarding the latest transgender/women’s rights controversy that has broken out this month. Starting last summer I’ve found myself in the unexpected and unpleasant position as lone defender of trans women in debates on Facebook. The intensity of people’s opposition to transgenderism has shocked and shaken me. I’ve…