“The glassblower knows: while in the heat of beginning, any shape is possible.  Once hardened, the only way to change is to break.”  – Mark Nepo This was today’s reading from The Book of Awakening – Having the Life You Want by Being Present to the Life You Have Imagine my surprise when I opened today’s reading and found this...

Two weekends ago I was fortunate enough to visit the 9-11 memorial at the site of the World Trade Center.  It is hard to believe that is has been more than ten years since that horrible day in our country’s history.  I was joined on the tour by two of my children, my oldest daughter, Lindsay and my youngest child, Jack.  Jack was only 2 1/2 on 9-11-01 so I...

This is one of my favorite quotes from one of my all time favorite movies “It’s a wonderful life”. This past weekend I celebrated my 50th birthday. I celebrated with friends and family in a way that really drove home for me how truly fortunate I am to have the life that I do. Friends traveled from Florida, North Carolina, Washington DC, and Texas to...

It has been over two months since I have written a blog post.  Much has happened since my last post at the end of November.  I am returning from a long break from blogging and the reason for the long break from blogging is that I have also returned from a long break from full time work. I retired from my full time corporate job in late 2007 to take some time off to...

I am ashamed to admit that I participated in this past week’s Black Friday ritual, not because I wanted to but because my children asked me to.  I think this possibly makes me a bad parent except that we discussed what we learned from the experience and perhaps that will change their perspectives for the future. We are a consumer driven society.  Last night...

Thanksgiving has come a long way from that first feast of November 1621.  The original Thanksgiving was a celebration of the first successful corn harvest for the colonists of Plymouth.  A feast that would not have been possible had the Native Americans not taught the colonists how to cultivate corn.  Back then growing a sufficient amount of food to survive was...

Today we spent our second day in Santa Fe taking in the art, culture and cuisine of the area. In today’s fast and cheap economy it is a rare treat to spend time in a city with much focus on the old ways and support for a local artisan community. We started the morning by returning to Oleaceae ...

Last night in our final class of Channeling Aristotle we discussed the role of a person as citizen. Aristotle felt this role trumped all others. Our professor asked us “What is the first freedom”? Our class gave no strong response. His answer – The freedom to govern yourself. We the People. We govern ourselves. We choose. We get what WE choose. ...

Here’s a great video of a teacher bringing science to life for kids. Carving a pumpkin using science. It’s fun! If only more of our teachers would bring education to life! A little fun along with the learning goes a long way to generate excitement.

Stewardship -the responsible overseeing and protection of something considered worth caring for and preserving Everywhere I hear and see finger pointing about who is responsible for this problem or that problem – global warming, the economy, loss of the moral compass, hunger, poverty. You name it, everyone is looking for someone or something to blame. As I...