Blogs

In a casual conversation with a near stranger I learned that the Zen principle of "enjoying the journey" emphasizes the importance of focusing on the present moment and finding joy and meaning in the process, rather than solely fixating on an outcome. [Click on the title above to read more.]

The heroic efforts over generations to save the Hudson River provide a template for what's needed today to address the climate crisis we all face. [Please click on the title above to continue reading]

Reaching out to others, especially those from the past, can expose a vulnerability that can break your heart... or lift it!

Opening a treasure chest, the author finds a valuable lost art.

[Click on the title above to read now.]

In explaining a situation to a friend , she said simply, “I don’t see a problem here, Ed. Embrace the Love”.

One of my oft recounted stories is a time I was aboard a sailboat in Southern California. I was in town for a tradeshow and the middleaged gentleman who owned the boat invited a few of us aboard for a sunset harbor cruise and hors d'oeuvres. He was in the process of restoring the boat, so the mast was off and in storage somewhere. Anyway, since I was very familiar with the harbor, I volunteered to steer his boat around enabling him to focus on his hosting duties. To my delight, he readily accepted. Later, approaching me and offering to fill my wine glass, I asked him if he grew up out here. “Not yet”, he replied. I chuckled. I love that response and have not forgotten it.

Recent events are heralded as a generational shift. It’s about time. With it comes an optimism for a saner future. Phrases such as “passing the torch”, “the power of hope” and “exhilaration of being on the cusp of a brighter day” are making headlines. The vocabulary surrounding this is interesting, too. Words such as dignity, decorum, decency, respect, kindness, honesty, caring, empathy, grace, freedom, gratitude, and integrity are used to describe what we regard to be innately human characteristics and what we most want from others. This should not be newsworthy. Alas, it is.

Four adult siblings relearn the values of home when visiting for their father's Celebration of Life.

[Click on the Title Above to Continue Reading]

We don’t have a packaged remedy for this pandemic. In the early days of the one we just experienced, we sold quite a lot of products that boosted the immune system. Everyone, it seemed, was interested in whatever defensive support they could get, even as the world we knew changed and we volunteered to isolate.

There are a couple restoration “projects” in my shop awaiting my attention and energy. At the time of committing to one of them, a friend of mine said “just leave it in position and patch it there”. His opinion, not misguided, highlights the difference between repairing something and restoring something. Repairing is simply to make it functional again – to fix what you see as the problem. But to restore something is much more involved, more ambitious - an attempt to bring it back to its original state - what it once was, or perhaps something even better. [TO CONTINUE READING, CLICK ON THE TITLE ABOVE]