Musings

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…

I spent the weekend at a dear friend’s lake house with several other friends. We are all the senior leaders in our organizations, and we enjoy getting to talk through and process things with each other. We also like to eat great food. In the midst of smoking meat, grilling, making great coffee and other…

When our children were very little, we played peek-a-boo with them. It was a simple game; we hid our faces with our hands and then opened our hands and said “peek-a-boo” to the delight of the child. Eventually, they would mimic this game themselves, delighted they could “hide” from us behind their hands. Peek-a-boo only…

Last week on my birthday, I saw U2 perform at The Sphere in Las Vegas. It was the best show I have ever seen. At the end of the song “One” Bono said, “Love each other, it’s a command, not a suggestion.” Interestingly, I had received an email from a team member the day before telling…

When I fly, I like to watch the ground get farther away as the plane climbs into the air. Pretty quickly, the cars, buildings, and roads become small, and the things that are too big to see from the ground come into view. Things look very different from 35,000 feet. Perspective. The ability to see…

I recently watched a documentary about the Yellowstone Caldera and supervolcano. If Yellowstone were to have another large eruption, it would likely be the end of the world as we know it (TEOTWAWKI). The three historic eruptions in Yellowstone were about one million years apart with the latest being 640,000 years ago, so we probably don’t have anything to…

I was in Kansas City for our annual Sales Summit last week. A great part of travelling is the opportunity to experience local flavor. KC is known for barbeque (specifically burnt ends), but my wife thinks it should be known for narrow winding streets and tiny parking spaces!  The word barbecue comes from the language…

Around 1980, I discovered KCSC, the classical music station from Edmond, Oklahoma’s Central State University. Classical during the day, but after midnight, a show called The Insect Lounge played music that wasn’t seeing the light of day in Oklahoma—punk rock. And I’ve been punk ever since. By 1987, punk was a little more mainstream, and one of…

“Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?” This quote from Mary Oliver’s “The Summer Day” is often used in motivational talks, articles, and Facebook posts. Unfortunately, I believe they misinterpret Oliver’s intentions in writing those lines. The poem describes a day of quiet solitude, paying attention…