-
What’s Your Dream?
There is a dream that many people seek. It involves a combination of houses…cars…vacations…expensive hobbies…even more expensive vices and a lucrative occupation to support it all. Sometimes it’s called the American Dream. The founding principle of this dream is fulfillment of our basic needs. This instinct, combined with the evolution of consumerism over the last century, results in the idea that things will make us happy. And if some is good, then more is better, right? The dream is so ubiquitous, at some point, we adopted it as our own. But is it? When we unknowingly move towards someone else’s expectations for our life, we may begin at a sprinter’s pace. But, sooner or later the degree…
-
Just Like Ogres
“For your information, there’s a lot more to ogres than people think… Onions have layers. Ogres have layers… You get it? We both have layers.” –Shrek (Shrek) They say we shouldn’t make something of nothing. Attributing significance to something that doesn’t warrant it…the proverbial mountain of the mole hill. I was recently reminded of the less-often-referenced flipside of the coin…making nothing of something. Like a tourist deliberately composing a picture to distort relative size, we like to pretend we can hold the Eiffel Tower in the palm of our hand. If something of nothing is living in exaggeration, then the converse is living in denial. From either seat, we’re not seeing our lives accurately. Not…
-
You’re Killing Me, Smalls
Every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 5:30 am, there is a pick-up game at the gym. Men (and at least one woman) from all walks of life and of all ages come together to start their day with play. The rules of engagement are not complicated. You show up; you get to play basketball. Oftentimes, there are more than two teams worth of players. When that happens, they self-regulate and take turns. They make it work. Pick-up games demand mutual respect amongst the players. They require discipline and a sense of fair play. There is something very appealing about the simplicity of living by playground rules. Grinning through one another’s triumphs, laughing at each other’s mistakes, and…
