Musings

I have a tendency towards being solipsistic – so mentally focused on my own wants that I am not thinking about other people. It is not so much selfish as it is mentally self-absorbed. I say not selfish because my wants are related to the good of the community. I get so distracted trying to…

I heard or read somewhere that people are capable of rising to a higher standard unless a lower one is offered. In 1949, mythologist Joseph Campbell published The Hero With a Thousand Faces outlining his “monomyth.” Ironically, that same year, Christopher Vogler was born. In 1998, he would create The Hero’s Journey as a simplified version of…

Long before the Borg, this phrase appeared in Doctor Who in the Cybermen. The Cybermen were basically the Borg before the Borg was a thing, only scarier. The Borg are cybernetic organisms linked in a hive mind called the collective. The idea was that eventually you would be assimilated into the collective, and there was nothing you…

In the television series adaptation of the novel The Three-Body Problem by Liu Cixin, a major character says, “Nothing good ever happens at zero.” She’s referring to a countdown clock that only certain individuals can see. She is right. In the story, nothing good ever happens when the clock runs down to zero. The book is about…

During a conversation with Tracy Brower, author of The Secrets to Happiness at Work (among others), she mentioned that her grandmother used to remind them that when the birds stopped singing there was danger coming. She then observed that in our communities there are similar warnings. It’s not that I didn’t believe her, but I did look it…

Why are so many children reported missing during a solar eclipse? Because no one can find their sun! My kids would roll their eyes at me if I told them that “dad joke.” Luckily, I have a granddaughter who still thinks I’m funny. Humor can be a healthy expression that can help us feel less…

I love Easter. It is a weeklong celebration of perfect love beginning with Palm Sunday. At my church, that means a lot of children waving palm branches as they parade through the aisles. This display symbolizes the day Jesus returned to Jerusalem hailed as a king by the people, where a week later he was…

A man I admire recently said, “Being smart is not the same as being wise.” I have the honor of gathering with other CEO level leaders several times a year for a roundtable discussion over lunch (hosted by The Kimmell Foundation). Our most recent conversation centered around the impact of AI on our organizations and people.…

While playing with some magnets, my granddaughter was fascinated by how they leapt together when turned one way yet pushed each other away when turned around. I must admit, I love magnets, too. What she was observing was the magnetic dipole in action. Magnetic poles (where the magnetic field enters or exits an object) always…

Next to his work, The Wild Sea, at OKCMOA, there is a quote by Balcomb Greene. “Complete abstraction in art is a dead end.” That resonated with me as I tend to be drawn to abstract art. Greene painted in ways that left most of the interpretation to the viewer but contained enough material to guide the viewer…