Happy New Year?

When we wish someone a ‘Happy New Year’ it is not the emotion of happiness we are invoking, rather we are wishing them a fortunate and lucky year. Interestingly, a wish is a strong desire for something that probably won’t happen. So as we welcome in the new year, we are (mostly inadvertently) saying, “I…

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All That I Can Give You

My mother makes the best peanut brittle in the known universe. You may think I’m biased, and I probably am, but it is really good. Every Christmas she gives us a very large tin packed with this special treat. It always has a small label on it that says, “Merry Christmas, Much Love, Mom”, in…

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Paying Attention To Intuition

“Have you ever noticed that you don’t have to teach children to draw? If you put paper and crayons in front of them, they draw. And they usually put the sun in an upper corner with the rays coming down.” The artist Skip Hill made this statement to me one day while we were talking…

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Free Agency

If you haven’t seen “Abstract: The Art of Design” on Netflix I highly recommend you watch it. I love the play on the word “Abstract” in the title. An abstract is a fairly detailed summary of a topic, which describes the show well. Abstract is something existing in thought or as an idea but not…

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Oh, But Change Of Heart Comes Slow

That’s a line from a song by U2 brought to my mind recently as I contemplated the world around me. I was able to attend a concert by The 1975 this past weekend with my boys. Midway through the show the lead singer, Matty Healy, played a recording of a call to action from activist…

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Thanks “Giving”

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday, hands down. The other holidays all have their draws but for me, nothing can compete with the simplicity and honesty of Thanksgiving. Of course, I love the food. We are all about tradition in our family. The roasted turkey, the family recipe for cornbread and sausage dressing, mashed potatoes with…

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Friday Comes on Tuesday

Thursday, after visiting the Walmart museum in Bentonville, AR, I was at the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art. The museum was designed by Moshe Safdie and is an amazing and wonderful place. We had made our way through about half the galleries, taken an architecture tour and eaten lunch at Eleven (named because the…

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If You’re Bored, Then You’re Boring

Today is Veterans Day. Join me in thanking the men and women of the United States Armed Forces. Their willingness to serve us at home and abroad in the defense of freedom deserves our respect and humble honor. May God bless them and their families, keep them from harm, and bring them home safely. Kudos to…

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Human “Being”

A therapist of mine once told me I was a human “doing” and I should be a human “being.” I was bent on performance and accomplishment at the time, and I often failed to experience the relationships and environments around me. If you had asked me at the time what my favorite part of any…

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The Best Thing

I was very fortunate to see Mandy Harvey at the Tower Theatre on Saturday evening. Mandy is an American jazz and pop singer and songwriter. After becoming profoundly deaf following an illness at the age of 18, she left Colorado State where she was majoring in vocal music. Mandy became depressed and quit music. However,…

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