Musings
All You Need Is Love
John Lennon and Paul McCartney of the Beatles were most likely wrong about many things, but when they wrote these lyrics to “All You Need Is Love,” they got it right. There’s nothing you can do that can’t be done Nothing you can sing that can’t be sung Nothing you can say, but you can…
Read MoreToxic Avenger
I am a huge fan of lists—if they are lists of things that need to get done. It gives me great satisfaction to cross things off as they are completed. I am not a fan of lists that give “x” steps to “y.” Steps you should take, things to avoid, habits to make—lists that tend…
Read MoreIn God We Trust
“The liberties of our country, the freedom of our civil Constitution are worth defending at all hazards; and it is our duty to defend -them against all attacks. We have received them as a fair inheritance from our worthy ancestors. They purchased them for us with toil, and danger, and expense of treasure and blood,…
Read MoreThe Simple Genius of Enjoyment
In 1915, Albert Einstein was living in Berlin and working on his theory of general relativity while his estranged wife tended his two sons in Vienna. In a short note to his 11-year-old son Hans, we see Einstein in a less familiar light—that of a caring father who uses forceful simplicity to offer young Hans…
Read MoreHungry Ghosts
Sitting in view of a spectacular mountain, sipping coffee, I find my mind wandering to things I want. How is that possible? How could I be dissatisfied in this moment, in this place? Let me share some thoughts inspired by Jessica Semaan’s article “The Hungry Ghost and Always Wanting More.” Buddhists often leave food on…
Read MoreRocky Mountain High
I write this sitting at the dining room table in a house on the side of the mountain in Breckenridge. We are on vacation. Rest. Relaxation. Family time. This is the fifth year we have driven to Colorado with my parents to spend a week in the mountains. My father likes the cool temps and the…
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I recently read The Mystic In The Machine (The Tao of computation.) I have always been interested in the concept of polarity or duality and the reality that we cannot experience good without the existence of bad, or pleasure without the experience of pain. Our perception of any present reality is the result of previous…
Read MoreA Meaningful Day
My father served in the U.S. Marine Corps and fought in Vietnam. He doesn’t talk about it much. Growing up, I don’t remember it being the topic of conversation or discussion much at all. From what I have heard him say and the few pictures I have seen, that was a very dark and difficult…
Read MoreMy Friend
On the death of a friend, we should consider that the fates through confidence have devolved on us the task of a double living—that we have henceforth to fulfill the promise of our friend’s life also, in our own, to the world.1 —Henry David Thoreau May 22, 2010, seven years ago today, my friend took…
Read MoreLove Will Tear Us Apart
In the opening to “Love Will Tear Us Apart” by Joy Division, lead singer Ian Curtis sings about his failing relationship with his wife. He describes how their relationship has become routine, ambitions are low, and the resentment that naturally follows is tearing them apart. Sadly, Curtis killed himself on May 18, 1980, shortly after…
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