Category Archives: Ruminations

Understated passion is always in fashion, at least that’s the word on the street.

I will refrain from remarking about the crass commercialism that has, for years, hijacked February 14. I will not say that Hallmark et al have cleverly woven into a celebration of love a suggestion that failure to spend appropriately is a sign of love gone stale.  I … Continue reading →

If you find it difficult to find something positive to say to a stranger to help him or her have a better day, you should be the next recipient of the positive words of a kind stranger.

I feel sorry for Brian Williams, the NBC news anchor who has been suspended without pay for six months for an exaggerated tale of reporting under fire from Iraq. I don’t approve, but I think it’s possible his memory really … Continue reading →

The amount of risk one is willing to take to achieve something—a desired object, a target, an accomplishment—is a measure of the importance of the objective.

If you get a frosty reception, you’re treated coolly (or coldly) by someone.  If you get into a heated argument, tempers flare. But if you’re cool as a cucumber, you’re imperturbably calm. Intriguing, isn’t it, that words suggestive of a … Continue reading →

Yield to it, indulge yourself in the experience you seek.

If you sit alone long enough, in a room with a pleasant view over a verdant valley pocked with lakes and ponds, you’ll conclude that problems with people and their personalities don’t matter. The room and the view and the solitude will … Continue reading →

Listen more, talk less, empathize more, judge less, forgive more, blame less. At least that’s the plan. But plans tend to change, don’t they?

My immediate reaction, when I heard a couple of days ago that a “sequel” to Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird is coming out was elation. Then, I learned yesterday that there is serious concern that she is being duped … Continue reading →

If you have never eaten abalone, you have missed out on one of the joys of life. It has been years since I’ve had abalone. I feel the need to have it again. Hawaii is said to be one of … Continue reading →

Lacking the patience to do a job one does not want to do is perfectly fine, provided the job does not need doing.  Otherwise, the first step in accomplishing the necessary task is to find a source of patience sufficient … Continue reading →

Expediency. The word suggests to me self-interest and a general disregard for morality and justice. But that’s not always the way it is used.  Many who use the word ignore its permeating overtones of immorality and injustice; instead, they use it as a … Continue reading →

The best way to be welcomed into all social circles is to keep your beliefs and opinions to yourself.  But that’s also known as cowardice. Midway between coward and doctrinaire is a happy medium, though “happy” may be stretching it.

At what point does one begin to feel guilt at violating a moral standard or compromising personal integrity? I suppose it varies with the individual, but that suggests a crack in the moral code, doesn’t it; isn’t morality by definition a … Continue reading →

Almost one-twelfth of the year has passed.  What do you have to show for it?  What plans have you solidified?  What steps have you taken; not talked about, taken? My answers to those questions are deeply unsatisfying.

The only way to learn whether hope can arise from the ashes of despair is to incinerate despair, which is a task of almost unimaginable scope and breadth in a world saddled with greed, poverty, starvation, and religion-fueled psychosis.

Squeeze a sponge so hard it becomes dry as the desert, utterly devoid of moisture.  When the sponge becomes so dry that it attracts the water of every river and stream, when the seas seek it out, when  oceans empty themselves in their search … Continue reading →

It’s inexplicable, the outpouring of emotion and tears and love for the universe that follows a few moments of staring upward at the stars on a night so utterly black and empty and alone.  On that night, the sky is … Continue reading →

Take a few moments, now, to consider all the uses you have for electricity.  Contemplate how your life will be different should its ready availability becomes a thing of the past.

I wondered what causes smiles.  I know, emotionally, what causes us to smile, but I wanted to know more.  Here’s what I found: …emotional data funnels to the brain, exciting the left anterior temporal region in particular, then smolders to … Continue reading →

I read a compelling argument that addiction is not a problem of chemical dependency but is, instead, an attachment disorder, with drugs or alcohol replacing personal connections. That puts a whole new perspective on the war on drugs and AA.

Remember those moments in which you are reminded why love is second only to sustenance, and maybe even second to none.

Don’t scold the sky for being too bright or too dark, lest your arrogance be challenged by the sun and moon.

Ask for help in achieving those hard goals, even if they are deeply personal and you’re the only one with the capacity to achieve them. Everyone can benefit from a cheering section.