Two people who made a big impression on me celebrated their birthdays today. British Prime Minister Winston Churchill was born 144 years ago on November 30th, 1874. The author of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Mark Twain, was born on the same day in 1835, 183 years ago. Continue reading
Month: November 2018 (Page 1 of 2)
Four years ago this week, a very rare book was discovered in a library in France. It was a 400-year-old original copy of 36 of Shakespeare’s plays. It is the only source for 18 of his plays, including Macbeth. Shakespeare didn’t receive much acclaim when he was alive, but seven years after his death two close friends printed 750 copies of the book to keep their friend’s talent alive. It originally sold for just over a dollar and today is worth $5.5 million. Continue reading
David Brooks wrote a piece for The New York Times called The Moral Bucket List. In it, he talks about résumé virtues and eulogy virtues.
David writes, “The résumé virtues are the skills you bring to the marketplace. The eulogy virtues are the ones that are talked about at your funeral — whether you were kind, brave, honest or faithful. Were you capable of deep love? We all know that the eulogy virtues are more important than the résumé ones. But our culture and our educational systems spend more time teaching the skills and strategies you need for career success than the qualities you need to radiate that sort of inner light. Many of us are clearer on how to build an external career than on how to build inner character.” Continue reading
Fifty-five years ago yesterday, on November 22nd, 1963, President John F. Kennedy was assassinated at the age of 46. The same age as me. Continue reading
As my 15-year-old son practices almost daily for the upcoming high school Shakespearean play, it reminded me of the value of the arts.
In Shakespeare’s time, people came to his shows to see what he would say about society, leaders, beliefs, love and war. They came to see new views on the lives they were living. They came to think. Continue reading
Tim Ferriss was interviewing singer Amanda Parker, spouse of author Neil Gaiman, on his podcast and she mentioned something that happened to her that was very powerful. She was in a yoga class years back and the activity was to find a partner and stare into their eyes for a number of minutes. It was hard to do as it’s a very intimate interaction, especially with a stranger. But what she found most telling was that a number of people in the class broke down in tears and were unable to continue. Continue reading
Life is about subtracting. Putting down the weight we’re carrying. Peeling off the layers that aren’t who we are.
Less is more.
Removing ourselves from negative energy. Auditing the people in our lives who don’t cheer us on and letting them go. Continue reading
I recently saw the movie Bohemian Rhapsody and it was so inspirational. Talk about following your heart, finding your gift and never giving up. I always knew of the band Queen and Freddy Mercury, but when I look at their list of hits it’s mind boggling.
Another One Bites The Dust. Crazy Little Thing Called Love. Somebody To Love. We Will Rock You. We Are The Champions. And of course, Bohemian Rhapsody. Continue reading
Irish writer George Bernard Shaw said, “The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore all progress depends on the unreasonable man.” Continue reading
This is the way it’s done. This is the way society says it should happen.
It starts when we’re young. Choose these courses. Take this degree. Start this job. Buy this property.
And then one day we realize that we weren’t really sure about any of those decisions and we’re not truly happy, but we’re stuck. With bills and commitments and things we started that we feel we need to finish. Continue reading