Answer These Seven Questions It has been estimated that Americans spend about $11 billion a year on self improvement. We summon all of this emotional and mental energy to understand and find ways to improve ourselves. One has to wonder, how can we live without “mindfulness” or a Buddha statue in our gardens or…

There is a small town named Hope that has little commercial activity but is kept alive by an elementary school, a library, a post office, and a fire department. There is one small but visible business sign that hangs out on Main Street — that of a hairdresser. She is…

In the early days as publisher of a group of newspapers owned by the Washington Post Company, a community leader, Lon Dring, called and asked if he could stop by my office and bring along breakfast — a cup of coffee and a bagel. I had not meant Lon, but…

A veteran of the Vietnam War was sharing what was happening in his life — a new job, working out at the fitness center, staying in touch with his family, and a hands-on home remodeling project. “Sounds great,” I said. “So, how are you doing?” There was a pause and…

…And the Question That He Asked For 32 years a retired pastor of a community church had taken his cars and now a truck with more than 200,000 miles on it to the mechanic tucked away in a small town. The mechanic’s story was intriguing. In the old days, he had run a chop shop for…

This is a story in search of an ending. It began 55 years ago on a snowy winter afternoon on a small college campus in Michigan when I “broke up” with the co-ed I had dated for two years. She was reserved, poised. I watched with a touch of remorse…

Shall We Dance? My daughter, married with a teenager and in midlife, stopped by a shop to have an auto mechanic change the filter in her Prius. She waited while he checked out her car. He finally emerged to announce, “We have a real problem. We found two mice nests next to the…

Alzheimer’s Can Diminish. Trauma Can Repress. But, Understanding Our Memories Can Lead to Enlightenment, Healing, and Empowerment Most Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays I visit my wife at a “memory care and assisted living” facility where she resides. It was about eleven years ago that we were sitting in our living…

An Enormous Undertaking. What Is Required? As is customary, here is my “one word to live by” for 2022. “Intentionality” is not an action to be taken, it is a philosophy of life; it is a way of bringing purpose to the many dimensions of our existence on this planet. It refers to “the belief that…