One of my core values is striving for physical, intellectual, emotional, and spiritual health. “Physical” health is an interesting challenge for me these days, as I near a milestone birthday and find various parts of the machine known as my body beginning to show some wear and tear. I’ve noticed that I can’t eat the […]
Walking Toward Possibilities
I’m back in the routine of taking early morning walks. They’re not very long, but they don’t need to be. They’re usually technology-free; just me, walking outside and looking around and trying to practice mindfulness activities such as focusing on my breathing and paying attention to what’s happening in the moment. Sometimes I get new […]
Fixing a Hole
I was driving my daughter to Nashville yesterday when that familiar Beatles’ song “Fixing a Hole” came on the radio: “I’m fixing a hole where the rain gets in/And stops my mind from wandering/Where it will go…” Immediately, I started thinking about what “rain” might represent, and how such “rain” gets inside of our heads […]
Sustainable Happiness
Zappos founder Tony Hsieh has a cool approach toward creating a work culture of sustainable happiness. His approach examines three forms of happiness: 1. Pleasure 2. Passion, or “flow” 3. Higher purpose, or values Hsieh advises that pleasure is the rarest form of happiness, and should be acknowledged and appreciated when it occurs–but its pursuit […]
Today
Another mass shooting in America. Dozens of futures ripped away; hundreds of survivors who will deal with the emotional and physical recovery for the rest of their lives. Hundreds, perhaps thousands, of friends and family members grieving in disbelief. And millions and millions more Americans talking about it on social media, at work, at schools, […]
Letter From a Tennessee Suburb
I am the prototypical white, privileged, straight male. I was raised in a middle class home, and though my parents were far from wealthy I was sent to college and they paid for all of it. I moved into the professional work force, and eventually earned a master’s degree that was fully funded through grants […]
Clarifying Your Values
I’m reading the book Chasing Relevance, which is focused on ways to more fully engage the Millennial generation. There’s plenty of important takeaways in this book that I’ll probably write about another time, but the other day I was struck by a small section on clarifying one’s personal values. The author, Dan Negroni, asserts that […]
There’s More Than One Way to Be Smart
As we progress in our careers and work with all kinds of people, it’s easy to fall into the trap of believing there’s just one or two areas of strength that are the most important–and that everyone should strive to develop these in order to advance. Psychologist Howard Gardner, however, pointed out seven different “types […]
The First Three Hours
These days, I’m practicing making the “first three hours” of each day all about my own health, personal growth, creativity, and learning. If you don’t prioritize time and space for such endeavors (and the specific chunk of the day when you do them will vary for each individual), you’ll only get to them sporadically because […]
Their Eyes Were Watching the Sun
Yesterday a sense of solidarity swept across our country, as we turned our gazes skyward to glimpse the United States’ first total solar eclipse in 99 years. It was brief. It was non-partisan. It was peaceful. And it was real. More than 300 million Americans, united by wonder and science and awe. As we shifted […]
