Higher Living Reflections

He had been to touch the great death, and found that, after all, it was but the great death. – The Red Badge of Courage, Stephen Crane Death. The thought causes…

Laughter and tears are both responses to frustration and exhaustion. I myself prefer to laugh, since there is less cleaning up to do afterward. – Kurt Vonnegut Emojis. They have become…

What is it within one’s psyche that is touched, that causes the world to seem an emptier place when a certain person dies? The loss could be personal or a public…

It’s rare that I agree with the late John Wayne, but his line as Captain Nathan Brittles in She Wore a Yellow Ribbon cuts to one of my pet peeves, what…

Before you can win, you have to believe you are worthy. – Former Chicago Bears’ Coach Mike Ditka For fourteen years, teaching eighth grade was most fulfilling. Colleagues from forty years…

A cynic is a man who, when he smells flowers, looks around for a coffin. – H.L. Mencken Feeling cynical? It’s a rare person, one would think, who doesn’t at some…

We’re a results-oriented society, thus the outcome of an activity is paramount to Americans. Planning is integral to the process. And with that, control over it. Outcome begins with intent. What…

Imagine stepping out of yourself and becoming the all-seeing, omniscient observer of the person you are and have been. You have full knowledge, of course, and complete, as opposed to flawed,…

Ah, the old writer’s block. What does a writer do when his creative juices seem to be dried up or are at least dammed by a weir, caught in eddy while…

An old friend and I got to talking about how the days, months, seasons, and years pass exponentially quicker as we age. I recall in seventh grade staring out the window…

I am struck by the thoughtful responses to my essay “Saying hi to your anger,” both as comments on the blog and in emails to me. The thoughts range from personal…

For every minute you remain angry, you give up sixty seconds of peace of mind. – Ralph Waldo Emerson It’s easy to acknowledge and accept the truth of Emerson’s statement. Sages…

We are shaped by our thoughts; we become what we think. When the mind is pure, joy follows like a shadow that never leaves. – The Buddha One threat to 21st-century…

I became aware of the old island here that flowered once for Dutch sailors’ eyes—a fresh green breast of the new world. Its vanished trees, the trees that made way for…

“Beware the Ides of March,” the soothsayer warns Julius Caesar in Shakespeare’s rendition. The Bard effectively took advantage of poetic license. His phrasing still packs power conveying a sense of doom.…