-
What really scares us …
“I’m not afraid of werewolves or vampires or haunted hotels. I’m afraid of what human beings do to other real human beings.” ~Walter Jon Williams Spooky season is here. Driving through our neighborhood this month, I’ve noticed block after block of homes decked out with creative Halloween decorations. I get a little thrill every time I spot a porch aglow with orange and purple lights or a family of skeletons gathered on someone’s front lawn. And in my email, I’m getting long lists of films to watch this season. From the witchy Practical Magic to classic Alfred Hitchcock thrillers and John Carpenter’s Halloween, there’s something for everyone. As today’s timely…
-
Point of view
“If you can learn a simple trick, Scout, you’ll get along a lot better with all kinds of folks. You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view — until you climb into his skin and walk around in it.” ~Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird Folks who lack empathy view everything solely from their own perspective. Putting their own needs first, they hear only what they want to hear. They rarely question if their actions are hurtful or offensive. They’re often convinced that their beliefs and opinions are the Universal Truth — and can’t understand why other people are sometimes at odds with…
-
Does character matter?
“We live in a culture that teaches us to promote and advertise ourselves and to master the skills required for success, but that gives little encouragement to humility, sympathy, and honest self-confrontation, which are necessary for building character.” ~ David Brooks, The Road to Character Like others who grew up without social media, I wasn’t comfortable promoting myself — especially early in my career. Broadcasting my achievements in public felt awkward, even rude, and I still struggle with this issue. But today’s quote pushes beyond self-promotion and digs deeper. Author David Brooks writes a lot about the importance of character. And I can’t help but wonder, given our country’s savage political…
-
The language of community
“When we love people, we share things with words. We share poems. We share songs. We share our favorite books. Because if we can make enough language bridges between the two of us, our hearts and minds will begin to know each other better.” ~Martha Beck This busy week has been all about sharing good books. On Tuesday night, I hosted our neighborhood book club, and last night I hosted a discussion of The Let Them Theory at the Blair Memorial Library’s “Self-Help Book Club.” Both book discussions were lively and thought-provoking. Best of all, I learned such interesting things about each person who reflected on what she had read.…
-
Creative cycles
“For a seed to achieve its greatest expression, it must come completely undone. The shell cracks. Its insides come out and everything changes. To someone who doesn’t understand growth, it would look like complete destruction.” ~Cynthia Occelli Nature often reminds us that growth and creativity are preceded by change or “complete destruction.” It’s a dynamic, powerful process — especially in the fall. Here in the Midwest, our trees drop their seeds, then stage a brilliant color show before completely shedding their leaves. Likewise, the best way through a creative block — or any sort of problem — is to scale back or remove what’s getting in the way. Sometimes we…
