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Namaste
“As far as possible, without surrender, be on good terms with all persons.” — Max Ehrmann, The Desiderata The second half of this Ehrmann quote is one of those master of the obvious statements. Wanna be happy? Be on good terms with all persons. (Um, duh.) But working backwards, it gets more interesting. “As far as possible, without surrender…” The reference to surrender demonstrates the Ehrmann’s understanding of the human condition and the resulting truth that we will have conflict. People driven by fear, ego, and instincts that have over-rotated in their desire to be met will seek to dominate one another. Now and then, this warring nature manifests as…
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Desired Things
“Silver-white winters that melt into springs These are a few of my favorite things” – My Favorite Things, Rodgers and Hammerstein Favorite things. Desired things. A heart’s desire. In 1927, Max Ehrmann wrote Desiderata (Latin: “desired things”) as a poetic call to action. Contrary to the implication of the title, these things were not things at all in the physical sense. Rather, it listed ways of thinking and living, perhaps even acts of faith, that enabled contentment. As we wait for this winter to (please) melt into spring, I wanted to explore the wisdom of the eight stanzas and nearly twice as many independent directives of Desiderata. It begins with…