The dynamic tension between independence and mutual responsibility has been part of the human psyche for… I don’t know, maybe forever. It was fundamental to our evolutionary development as a species — homo sapiens wouldn’t have made it very far…
When I was about fifteen years old, I decided that religion was a soul-sucking dead-end. This decision was a big shift and it came out of nowhere, as far as I recall. I’d been a happy churchgoer my entire life,…
I don’t know if you’re familiar with the idea of “jumping the shark.” It refers to the 5th season of the TV show Happy Days. In a 1977 episode, the ever-cool character of the Fonz, answering a challenge to his…
A few weeks ago, I was grumbling about something. I don’t remember what it was. Something was coming up and I wasn’t looking forward to it. I declared, “I’m going to hate it, I’m going to be miserable.” I caught…
I read a sweet article recently, by Rhaina Cohen for The Atlantic: “What Adults Forget About Friendship.” It left me nostalgic for the broad vistas I remember from my childhood. When the future appeared wide open, and the present was…
“There are some people who live in a dream world, and there are some who face reality; and then there are those who turn one into the other.”Desiderius Erasmus “I never forget a face. But in your case, I’d be…
Today is the ten-year anniversary of my Mom’s sudden passing. I’m feeling blue, tired before I even begin. The day she died, Friday the 13th, I was preparing for my weekly Saturday night service, which that year was going to…
“This whole world is wild at heart and weird on top.” — David Lynch Last week, a friend of mine said that she was trying to go about her usual daily business and found that she was just feeling weird,…
I know I’ve told you that I walk shelter dogs twice a month at Animal Humane New Mexico. I’ve been doing it since last fall, and I love it. They have a nice campus with meandering paths and sniffable shrubs,…
Travis and I seriously needed something soothing and pretty to watch before bed this week, so we started a nature show — The Secret Lives of Animals, narrated by Hugh Bonneville, on Apple TV. I was scrolling through our queues,…