FIRST IMPRESSIONS
On one of the social media platforms, a woman posted: “One time my dog found a discarded chicken sandwich in a hedge while we were on our morning walk. So every day since, for the past 10 years, we have…
HALLOW, I LOVE YOU
I don’t use the word “hallow” much. Practically never. I might change that. I’m familiar with the idea of hallowed ground, of course, but I can’t remember ever describing anyplace as such. And I know the phrase “Hallowed be Thy…
POSITIVE SPIN
I came across an article from a few years ago, by designer-writer-consultant Paul Jarvis. I saved this piece because it was provocative and challenging. I used to read Jarvis’s newsletters regularly for encouragement and advice about creativity and organizational leadership.…
ALL THE ROADS
Travis and I were sharing a bottle of wine on the outside deck of a tasting room on Stearns Wharf, the pier in Santa Barbara, a couple of weeks ago. It was a perfectly beautiful afternoon, nearing sunset on the…
HUNGRY LIKE THE WOLF
A few years ago, my friend Denise shared with me a wonderful story about St. Francis of Assisi: The town of Gubbio had a serious problem. An enormous lone wolf was eating the villagers’ sheep. Several people tried to stop…
MOVING HEAVEN AND EARTH
To move heaven and earth means to be relentless, to go to the greatest lengths, to give it everything we’ve got. It conveys incredible commitment, impressive strength, and heroic determination. The phrase is deliberate exaggeration or hyperbole. We’re not supposed…
BRAVO!
This Hafiz poem has really been speaking to me this week: This union you wantWith the earth and sky,This union we all need with Love…A golden wing from God’s heart justTouched the ground.Now,Step upon itWith your brave sun-vowsAnd help our…
WHAT’S NEXT STARTS NOW
I’m not naturally a patient person. Instead of “get well soon,” I send “GET WELL NOW” cards. I’ve learned to be more patient with others — to give them space and time to be themselves and do things at their…
THE SEA COMPLAINS UPON A THOUSAND SHORES
“Any fool can criticize, condemn, and complain. And most fools do.” — Dale Carnegie Most advice about complaining boils down to: Don’t. Stop. I found lots of quotes from very smart people counseling strongly against it. Conventional wisdom holds that…
CHEESE & MAC
Thanks to the clever (and sometimes surprisingly saucy) Merriam-Webster Instagram account, I learned a linguistic term this week: irreversible binomials. An irreversible binomial is a pair of words that we’re used to hearing and saying in a particular order. In…