In honor of the memory of a great man and after the wars, the shooting in Arizona, the fiscal debt, the drug wars, the high unemployment, the housing bubble, the divided Congress, I hope each of us will pause to consider our dream for our country and our personal responsbility to ca
T.S. ELIOT HAD A POINT During one of my lunch hour reads I came across a comment by the actress, Natalie Portman. She was being interviewed for her recent movie, “The Black Swan” in which she plays a dancer who explores the good and evil aspects of her character, hoping to
THE ART OF SAYING NO Monday is my day to grocery shop. Tuesday and Thursday, I take my walk in the park. I consider these events similar because they are the times when I do my best thinking. Browsing supermarket aisles or walking a tree lined path, I allow my mind wander wherever it
LET ME NOT TO THE MARRIAGE OF TRUE MINDS…. One of my favorite writers on women’s issues is Barbara G. Walker the authoritative author of “Myths and Secrets,” a huge tome of information on women’s mythology, anthropology, religion and sexuality which
WORDS NOT TO LIVE BY People seem to like making lists: best restaurants, best hotels, and best movie or actor to name a few. But Lake Superior University (Yahoo news, 1/1/2011) offers a list each year of the ten worst and overused words that should be banished. In 2010 they includ
THE ART OF MOUTH BREATHING, SOMETIMES CALLED LAUGHTER A while back a friend who knows I practice yoga bought me a gag book entitled “Downward-Facing Frog” illustrated and written by Joan C. Gratz. It’s one of those novelty books that poke good natured fun at the practice
THE LIPSTICK OF POVERTY I have a friend who is prosperous. He was born poor but managed to pull himself up by his bootstraps, as the saying goes. As is often the case with self-made people, he shows a marked impatience with others who cannot perform as he has done. He sees the world
RANDOM THOUGHTS ON HUMOR Few would disagree with the argument that humor largely depends upon one’s culture. First there is the idiom of language. I watched a British TV comedy recently and heard the audience roar with laughter over a word that had no meaning to me. One had to know
January 5, 2011: Yesterday I spoke of the power of Nature to lift us above ourselves. As it’s still the first few days of the New Year I want to share this video clip a friend sent. It does more than I can say to remind us of the beauty of this planet, a gift we must all work ha