This has been a summer of odd contradictions. Of people behaving badly and moments of unexpected courage and heart. Moments when a remarkable president stepped up to the podium, unscheduled, without notes or teleprompter, and asked some vulnerable, heartfelt, and hard questions with an intimate candor no president since perhaps Lincoln has revealed. Comments about race in America that cannot be ignored any longer. Questions that should never have been ignored in the first place. And then, just weeks later, another moment in which we find a great athlete sadly standing on the edge of scandal and a lifetime ban, [ Read More ]
At least once a day, I am appalled by behavior or comments made by strangers or people I know. Examples of inappropriate behavior, arrogant demands, inconsiderate actions, and blatant disregard for common courtesy, helpfulness, kindness or empathy. But occasionally, on days like today, on the heels of the Zimmerman verdict, and the strong reactions that immediately followed, I find myself deeply ashamed of and gravely concerned for my culture, society and country and the choices and actions that are being taken. From Hollywood to Main Street, America, people are shocked and many are outraged. And now, the latest screaming headline [ Read More ]
A very compelling piece of video surfaced today. The three young women who had been kidnapped and abused for so many years while locked away in a house in Cleveland spoke out publicly for the first time. Each face and voice was unique and touching; each smile and word retrieved and honed, I suspect, at an emotional cost far greater and more painful than any you and I will ever be asked to pay. How brave to reveal themselves to the media and world. Yet, in order to move forward and rebuild their lives, how essential. While listening and watching [ Read More ]
It continually occurs to me as I rattle around my new Portland flat, trying to figure out the best place to store old and familiar things, how mind-bending a move can be. It’s like going through an intense year-long therapy session that ends up getting compressed into a few stressful weeks. Not only are our materials things, our “stuff,” relocated and re-placed in a different and foreign configuration, kicking up tons of unseen dust bunnies, surprises and confusion, but in the process, if we pay attention, it also stirs up wisps of memories, bits and pieces of nostalgia, even fragments [ Read More ]
Even though I’m still on medical leave and am not supposed to be spending time sitting at my desk and writing, I wanted to share a few personal observations as I prepare to make another long-distance move in two weeks to a new place, a new city, a new life and a new way of being. So many of us today are consumed with consuming. It’s what one of the key premises in my book, “A Simple Path to The Good Life,” is all about. Maybe the “good” life we’ve been chasing is not so good for us after all. [ Read More ]
In the stunning wake of Monday’s bombings in Boston, I received a number of messages asking me if I would consider repeating one more time the column I wrote on September 12, 2001 that was published in my book in the chapter, Lost Boundaries. While our country’s ability to muster well-honed emergency and forensic support for horrific moments like this has improved significantly, I couldn’t help but wonder at what cost to our peace of mind and liberty, along with how many times I will have to re-iterate the following thoughts because, in the end, the questions remain the same: [ Read More ]
Since I’m only two weeks post neck surgery, and still unable to do very much, I’ll make this brief and to the point. We’ve all heard about the Rutger’s coaching scandal and the subsequent outrage and fall out. Now, many days after the videos first surfaced, some of the people involved have been fired or resigned. While the university is preparing to investigate the incidents for a second time, Governor Christie has firmly backed the President of the institution, the coach and athletic director have walked away with huge severance packages, and the furor overall seems to be dying down. [ Read More ]
It’s hard for any of us to really take seriously the idea that a minute, an hour, a day, or a week from now, we could be dead. While we might talk about the prospect of it on occasion with a good friend or family member – a conversation usually prompted by the death of someone close or after seeing something in the news – it’s a surreal concept that generally doesn’t register personally. Yet, the moment the horrific tale of the man in Florida being swallowed by a sinkhole hit the headlines, the story took off like a rocket, [ Read More ]
The media has been buzzing and swarming fanatically ever since the first headlines appeared about Oscar Pistorius and the alleged premeditated murder of his model girlfriend, Reeva Stenkamp. The mere fact that those inflammatory words were used in the initial headlines indicate the judgmental, knee-jerk, and disturbing inclination today by the court of public opinion to decide who did what when, where and why as soon as a body is discovered, using words, such as premeditated and accused and murderer, that are potent enough to taint any jury pool anywhere in the world in any language. When I read the [ Read More ]
For over a year, media and pundits alike talked themselves into a frenzy as they counted down the days until we reached the “fiscal cliff” that would catapult us into unimaginable instability or the future moment when, armed with our own customized designer automatic rifle with matching carry-case, we’d shoot everyone we knew including ourselves in the foot based on the appalling statistics that now make America the homicide nation in the world. Wow. What a distinctive title. Growing up, I imagined as an American there would be a number of wonderful claims I could make while traveling abroad – [ Read More ]