Unraveling the Threads of Shame
“Whom do you call bad? Those who always want to put to shame. What do you consider most human? To spare someone shame. What is the seal of liberation? No longer being ashamed in front of oneself.” ~Frederich Nietzsche (1844-1900) We all have that unspeakable something, don’t we? We have that unspeakable something that weighs […]
Collaboration vs Competition
“Many ideas grow better when transplanted into another mind than the one where they sprang up.” – Oliver Wendell Holmes You sit in your office and the younger gentleman or woman comes to you for advice on a project. Will you help them? You cook a wonderful dish and your friend wants to know how to […]
Just looking for my place in the world
“He could not return to living full-time with the Dursleys, not now that he knew the other world, the one to which he really belonged.” ― J.K. Rowling If we can utter the words I’m a member, we are also saying that we are not outsiders, not visitors, and that we belong. It would […]
Allowing for (gasp) Imperfection
“Don’t pointless things have a place, too, in this far-from-perfect world? Remove everything pointless from an imperfect life, and it’d lose even its imperfection.” ― Haruki Murakami, Sputnik Sweetheart Picture an ad for the latest life-changing medication, with a few key changes: Is a mismatched life getting you down? Does living with pet hair on […]
Don’t be Mean
“She said, ‘I walked out of Auschwitz into life…I will never say anything that couldn’t stand as the last thing I ever say.” ~Benjamin Zander, Lessons from Auschwitz Today, I will speak good words. It’s that simple, after all, isn’t it? I just decide I want to speak kindness into others’ lives, and it […]
Leadership and Accountability for Us All
“Laws control the lesser man. Right conduct controls the greater.”― Mark Twain There is no law that says you must be an honest person, but there are laws that will punish you when you are dishonest in certain situations. The question I come away with after seeing Twain’s quote, though, is Why do people need […]
Putting off until tomorrow….
“I’ll think of it tomorrow, at Tara. I can stand it then. Tomorrow, I’ll think of some way to get him back. After all, tomorrow is another day.” ― Margaret Mitchell, Gone with the Wind It still amazes me that with my frequent inability to focus, I was able to read Mitchell’s Gone with the […]
Lonely in a Crowd
“Where are the people?” resumed the little prince at last. “It’s a little lonely in the desert …” “It is lonely when you’re among people, too,” said the snake.” ~Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, The Little Prince There was a beautiful wooded area behind my house when I was a little girl. Beyond the woods was a […]
Taking an Inventory
“Your days are numbered. Use them to throw open the windows of your soul to the sun. If you do not, the sun will soon set, and you with it.” ― Marcus Aurelius, The Emperor’s Handbook “Why, Mr. Magruder? Why do we have to count all the towels?” Every January, just before the white sale […]
A New View
“A desk is a dangerous place from which to view the world.” ― John le Carré While I was eating lunch with friends recently, my young friend Caroline left us to take a nap while her mother enjoyed a visit with the adults. Caroline poked her head back out the bedroom door and said, “I […]
