Einstein was a deep thinker. All of his discoveries were the result of thought experiments. He was such a deep thinker, that he was totally unaware of much of the world around him. They say he wouldn’t change clothes for days. We’re not extreme thinkers like Einstein....
Where is your lighthouse?
In his masterful speech to congress, Hakeem Jeffries quoted scripture from Galatians, “Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.” Do you sometimes feel weary and want to give up? You’re doing good, but...
Energy Vampires
According to Richard Rohr, in his book Falling Upward, we are either giving or taking energy in any interaction. It made me wonder if I take more energy than I give. It’s hard to know because most people will rarely tell you that you’re an energy vampire sucking the...
It takes a community to raise a child . . . and an adult
My 11-year old granddaughter played Silent Night on the violin for us on Christmas morning. As I listened to her, I thought back to when I held her in my arms 11 years ago about an hour after she was born. She was beautiful. But, she was totally helpless. However,...
Would you post if no one read your posts
I’m suffering from a dopamine addiction. When I don’t get any likes, I experience a form of withdrawal. I’m asking myself why I’m doing this. “Why” is one of the most powerful words we have. It’s a good idea to assault all of our behaviors with “why.” I asked my...
Mid-life or Late-life Crisis
During the Clinton/Lewinsky debacle, people were asking if Clinton was still relevant. That’s about the worst thing for a president, or anyone for that matter to hear. To lose relevance means to lose our purpose. Everyone who has any kind of job, from the president to...
Windshield or Rearview?
Are you spending too much time looking in the rearview mirror? There’s an obvious reason why the windshield in our car is bigger than the rearview mirror. How about the windshield of our life? I’m afraid that the rearview mirror gets bigger in the second half of life...
Moral Beauty
I’m grateful to Christine Sperber, a co-founder of the Modern Elder Academy, for introducing me to the concept of moral beauty, a term that she learned from Dacher Keltner, professor of psychology at the University of California, Berkeley. Moral Beauty in its simplest...
Half Full or Half Empty
Is your life half full or half empty at forty? Too many people think it’s half empty after they have one of those silly birthday parties with black balloons and over-the-hill cards. The implied message is that we’ve reached the pinnacle of our life, and it’s downhill...
Quiet Quitting?
The latest meme to hit social media is Quiet Quitting. It’s as if this has suddenly appeared as a result of the COVID crisis, but it’s been around for a long time. In my opinion, it’s a result of poor leadership, lack of purpose, and lack of human connection and...
The Problem With Imagination
The problem with imagination is that we don’t know how to use it. We stand on the precipice between imagining the best of what could be or the worst of what is. Too often we imagine the worst of what is and bring that into our lives and the lives of others. The Law of...
Letting Go
Sometimes I feel like a trapeze artist who has the potential to do beautiful, athletic somersaults in the air but can’t let go of the trapeze. My partner is waiting for me, calling me, but I just keep swinging back and forth, going nowhere. A common theme in all...
Ludicrous Mode
My host offered to give me a ride back to the hotel after our dinner party. “Would you like to go in the Maserati or the Tesla?” (Yes, It was a very nice dinner party.) I said, “Let’s go in the Tesla. I’ve heard they’re really fast.” When we got in the car, she said...
Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner
It was an unusual dinner party. The guests were from different generations. We gathered around a table in the garden of the host’s beautiful Los Angeles home and talked about the future. There was no jockeying for position or dominance at the table. No debates. Nobody...
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