Posts Tagged With ‘ FEATURED ’

In the northeastern United States, where I happen to live, there’s an annual climate-change event. It’s called winter. During this event, the temperatures fall, as do little white flakes the natives call snow. We’ve already had seven or eight inches of the stuff fall this month. And there’s more to come: After a mostly calm and mild December across much of the U.S., Mother Nature is making up for it with a stormy and cold January, and there’s more wild weather on the way. The deadly storm that’s raking the eastern U.S. this week is the opening act for what’s to come over the next... Continue Reading

Ya know what I was thinking about today? Nothing. I put in a full day of work, but I gave my mind the day off. That’s right. I was on something like cerebral autopilot. I had things to do, but they were routine enough and I knew them well enough that they didn’t require creative thought. So, I drifted, dreaming wide awake. It’s my version of creative tension. The term, creative tension, was coined by Peter Senge in his 1990 book, The Fifth Discipline: The Art and Practice of the Learning Organization. He thought competing ideas in teams and organizations created tension, which he took to... Continue Reading

I wake up most mornings with questions on my mind. Generally, they’re relatively innocuous or inconsequential things like: Why do I have the theme from Mannix stuck in my head? Do bald men think toupees are fooling anybody? Why do so many people believe in gravity? Why do some Kindle books cost more than the same books in print? If I pay my Social Security taxes, why am I taxed on the money I paid into Social Security when I get it back? If Santa Claus knows if you’ve been bad or good, why did he bring me anything, ever? Who the hell did let the dogs out? If an asp in the grass is a snake,... Continue Reading

During my time as a student at Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut — from which I earned a B.A. in English Literature with a minor in Philosophy — I had a teacher, Professor Langston, who’d earned his Ph.D. in Intellectual History. He was, therefore, justifiably enamored of the work of existentialist deconstrutionists and post-modernists such as the Austrian-German philosopher Edmund Husserl (who founded the school of phenomenology before going on to found the Proßnitz School of Driving in his hometown); Husserl’s disciple, the German philosopher, Martin Heidegger; and more contemporary... Continue Reading

Some people know what they want in life, others figure it out along the way. Rocky Michaels, multi-award-winning independent singer-songwriter and recording artist was encouraged to learn the piano at a young age and the rest fell into place. We learn by watching others and it can stir something within that takes us down a path for our own growth and understanding of how we fit in the world. In this interview I explore with Rocky his roots in music, how it evolved over time and some nuggets to help others find their way. Eileen: You have been a musician for a very long time, since the age of 5.... Continue Reading

Author’s Note: It’s entirely possible I watch too much C-SPAN. I don’t know. But I do know it gets increasingly difficult for me to understand what’s going on in the formerly United States, how we got here, and why we put up with it. Part of it, of course, results from the polarization to which we’re perpetually subject. That polarization leads us to emotional responses to people and, particularly, to political candidates. (We much prefer emotion and feelings to thinking and reality.) So, we vote for candidates we like (?!) or, more frequently, for the candidate we dislike less than... Continue Reading

In the October 2nd episode of my program, The Anxious Voyage, I welcomed a guest named John Tejada. After being imprisoned on a sexual-assault charge, John wrote the manuscript for a book called, Searching for Redemption. During our conversation, I told John I’m conflicted, torn between two points of view: On one hand, I believe Frankenstein should be required reading because its abiding lesson is that we have to live with the monsters we create. On the other hand, I don’t want to consider myself an absolutist; that is, I don’t want to believe all things are irretrievably right or irretrievably... Continue Reading

Late last month, NPR ran a good news/bad news story online. The good news, according to the headline, was this: “An annular solar eclipse is coming to parts of the U.S. in October”. The story went on to specify: The moon will pass between Earth and the sun, treating viewers here on our planet to … annular solar eclipse. That occurs when the moon is at or near the furthest point its orbit and appears small in the sky, and its transit in front of the sun will look like a black circle on the gleaming star. In the U.S., the annular eclipse [will be visible] on Saturday, Oct. 14. The... Continue Reading

Finding the perfect online business idea to work from home can feel daunting, whether you’re a complete beginner to online marketing or a seasoned business owner reconsidering your current path. You will find some excellent ideas in this article if you’re looking for opportunities that offer both satisfaction and fulfillment. What Does Passion Have to Do with It? Before we jump into online business ideas, it’s essential to understand the role of passion. It’s not just about seeking the quickest way to earn money. As highlighted by Dave Kerpen in the Huffington Post, passion gives us the... Continue Reading

Once a bureaucracy grows beyond a certain size, it exists only to sustain itself and to grow. No bureaucracy ever recognizes its inefficient dysfunction, nor do the people who serve it ever examine it, seek to improve it, apply logic and reason to it, or say no to it. If the people who suffer its abuses are lucky, the monolith may one day collapse of its own weight. But until then, everyone who suffers by it is stuck with it. Case in point: the United States Postal Service (USPS). On September 3rd, I ordered a cap from a hat shop in San Diego, California. The graphic on the left shows the circuitous... Continue Reading