I Will Put My Money Where My Mouth Is!!!

Posted on Jan 17, 2022 in Uncategorized

Photo by Pablo Hermoso
Below is a reprint of Mark Manson Jan 11th post on changing one’s mind. Life can be quirky. An hour ago I made a note to write on how most of us operate with conviction – without researching what we have decided is “right.” Now I don’t have to. Manson did it for me. 
 
I have followed Ray Dalio for years but I didn’t know about his beginnings. Interestingly, most of us put our intellectual money “where our mouth is.” We join a “pack” and would rather die than change our minds. 

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Is humanity the center of the world – or part of it?

Posted on Jan 9, 2022 in Uncategorized

Saw the below quote and image on Twitter/posted by Sloww Co. I am always surprised by how quickly I comprehend something graphically.
 
The major problems in the world are the result of the difference between how nature works and the way people think. – Gregory Bateson
 

Lately, one question seems to come up, repeatedly, at the end of my daily reading: would this be happening if there was no such thing as money?

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Grieving the Loss of Certainty

Posted on Jan 1, 2022 in Uncategorized

Photo by Emily Morter

My earlier death and dying continuing ed classes often included psychiatrists and psychologists who admitted they knew little about grief. They were stuck in concepts such as closure, which doesn’t happen (and why should it if you cared for someone), and Kubler-Ross’s 5-stages, which were developed for coping with terminal illness not grief.

But the larger issue to be learned was how grief isn’t limited to the loss of life. In fact, we grieve the loss of anything we value or count on – which brings us to Covid.

In any case, western society isn’t good at grieving. Most often we simply hide it or hide from it, and the result can be depression, anger, substance abuse and even suicide.

Non-Death Driven Grief

As the news continued to cover Covid death, we came to realize how Covid living was loaded with loss.      

The most obvious loss was the daily routine. But there is also the loss of physical and mental well-being from the burn-out among general labor, healthcare workers and parents juggling jobs and home schooling. Also the loss of socialization and companionship especially for the elderly who can’t see family. These are only a few of the losses for the living that have led to a loss of morale.

One major loss, however, has had little press—our loss of certainty.

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AMANDA GORMAN – 3 Poems From Her New Book

Posted on Dec 18, 2021 in Uncategorized

Photo by Fernando @cferdo

Below is excerpt and three poems from the recent New Yorker piece on Amanda Gorman’s new book Call Us What We Carry:


When Amanda Gorman read her poem “The Hill We Climb” at the 2021 U.S. Presidential Inauguration, she became both the inheritor of a long tradition and a herald of something new. Her verse, as vibrant and elegant as her yellow coat against the cold, illuminated the imagination as well as the occasion, confirming her as a worthy successor to several other Black women inaugural poets writing to and for an American ideal—a lineage traceable all the way back to Phillis Wheatley, who, at the dawn of the Republic, addressed a poem to then General George Washington. As Gorman acknowledged this country’s contested history, and its contemporary tumult, her invocation of the plural pronoun “we” reminded us that, for good or literal ill, our lives are connected. Hers was an invitation to move forward together.

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Robin Williams Video

Posted on Dec 11, 2021 in Uncategorized

Photo ABC7

“Strive to make people happy that you are here…” Robin Williams

In this terrific video Robin reminds us to be aware of what we find precious. His words are basic, wise… and so precious. 

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The Future of Hope

Posted on Dec 4, 2021 in Uncategorized

Photo by Ronak Valobobhai
Hello Readers – December 2021: We made it – at least some of us did. And for those of us lucky souls, I am offering the transcript as well as podcast of Pico Iyer interviewing Elizabeth Gilbert (featured on On Being). The talk is: The Future of Hope. 
 
Take the time. Frankly, I am not a podcast person – because I like to preview interviews fast to find out if they are worth it. Trust me – this is worth listening to.
 
Love you all and wish you a good December.
Vicki

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Asking for Help

Posted on Nov 27, 2021 in Uncategorized

Photo by Kiana Bosman

Below is an excerpt from a recent edition of Culture Study, a column written by Anna Petersen. The essay really hit home for me – how hard won it was to become a modern woman—sometimes to the point of needing help and forgetting we can ask for it. 

I might add that, however, that it helps to partner with someone who is willing to fill the volunteer fireman’s position, but in any case having quarantined for so long – all of us have gotten the idea that it is up to us to isolate and be singularly responsible for taking care of ourselves.

 

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