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HOPE HEALS? OR JUST WOO WOO

Hope heals the hopeless. I’m glad if it’s true. (pssst, it’s true.) But who are these hopeless people? Do you know one?

GROWING HOPE ON FALLOW LAND

Growing hope is my hope. Why? Because I like hopeful people. They do things I might try to do, go places I might like to go. In my work life I choose hope. Family life? I choose hope. Here’s now to grow hope in what feels like barren land.

BEST MAN EVERY DAY FOR BEST RESULTS

A Best Man for a wedding has a big job. It’s usually a variation on ‘Don’t screw up.’ If anyone is going to make a mistake, it has to be someone else. But what makes a Best Man good?

DISCOMFORT LEVEL FOR NOISE, WATER, AND ELON MUSK

I set my discomfort level running a marathon in new insoles. It was my only marathon. Training rules say don’t run in new shoes, not insoles. By five miles my feet were on fire. I ran past it. I squeezed sponge water down my neck at an eight mile water station. It drained down my […]

LIFETIME AWARDS? WHY NOT START EARLY

When do lifetime awards start pouring in? Angry Boomers say Millennials got too many awards already, trophy after trophy for signing up on soccer, indoor soccer, basketball, baseball, and football teams. And they are right. So what? Who has a problem with a kid trophy? It might be the only one they’ll get if they […]

MESSAGE SENT, FOLLOWED BY REGRET AND HOPE

The message sent about Portland Oregon is one of hope. When the homeless set up camp, Portland hoped they were comfortable. Protest marchers clashed with Portland police hoping for change. Rival groups faced off. The message sent to them, to us, was there would be no police involvement. I suppose the hope was they would […]

AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE UPDATE: NOW WHAT?

We all understand American Independence from a historical point of view. “Freedom from the tyranny of taxation without representation.” And other tyrannies? What about independence from other tyrannies? Can we get freedom from self-imposed tyrannies? Personal tyranny? If so, how? That’s the question, how? You could read an essay for starters. It’s an Oregon-born essay […]

CONTINUITY CONDITIONS: HOW ONE THING LEADS TO THE NEXT

Continuity conditions start with the first word. Continuity: uninterrupted connection, succession, or union. When you get on a roll and stay on it, that’s continuity. But what if the conditions for continuity aren’t right? They aren’t right in a relationship, a family, or work life? If that’s what you’ve got going on, it may not […]

LOSER LESSONS FOR A LIFETIME OF HOPE

Loser lessons make good winners. The trick is finding context. The particular context is knowing you’re not a lifetime loser because of a few events that didn’t turn our your way. I’ve had a few, you’ve had a few. Anyone who says they haven’t had a few are only lying to themselves. Some loser lessons […]

BETTER DAYS AND THE RANDOM MOMENTS THAT INSPIRE THEM

We had a table discussion about historic moments that led to better days. Four adults, three of whom don’t like things called table discussion. Me: But we’re at the table. One in the group gave their version of a history and moved on. But another in the group made a correction. The rest of group […]