Posts Tagged With ‘ @LIFETALK ’

Tim Steinruck is a solo rock artist with 30+ years of music and performance experience. His soul awakened to a deep connection with a calling that entwines music, life, mystery, and a passion infused with purpose. Through a teenager’s drive to push the limits, a journey into the world of music began. Elevating to an egoic high, with a slippery slope back down, Tim discovered his true nature in the calmness of mind, body, and spirit. Music became the thread that weaves all of life’s treasures grounding the messages of life’s meaning through the element of song. Envision yourself on the same... Continue Reading

I happened to see a notice that, Melanie, one of the singer/songwriters who achieved some popularity during my wayward youth, passed away earlier this year at the age of 76. It started me thinking about the plethora of famous people who’ve managed to become known by a single name only, often just their first names. This is just a partial list: Cher, Madonna, Sting, Rihanna, Charo, Sade, Usher, Prince, Adele, Beyoncé, Sinbad, Bono, Flea, Liberace, Zendaya, Lizzo, Pink, Twiggy, Slash, Yanni, Snoop, Drake, Kesha, Fabio, Shakira, Björk, Aaliyah, Eminem, Ashanti, Banksy, Seal, Oprah, Morrissey,... Continue Reading

I have a theory that, for some people, the calendar just stops. It stops at different times for different people. But it definitely stops. All of their cultural influences — sartorial, tonsorial, musical, et al. — freeze. I don’t know if those freezes could be considered time warps. It’s more likely they reflect periods of time in which the frozen people were most comfortable. I developed the theory in sixth grade. It was 1966. I was 12 years old. I had a classmate named Dennis Kennedy. I don’t know how old Dennis was. But he shaved, smoked, and drove his own car to school. His calendar... Continue Reading

On The Scale of Self-Deceit and Frivolity Unto Extinction, there are points well beyond first-world problems. They indicate the extent to which life in the United States is luxurious enough that we can afford to make shit up to worry about. They also confirm the point made by Bill Maher that Americans are a silly people. Consider this item, which was brought to my attention most recently: On February 9, 2024, The Virginian-Pilot newspaper ran an article with the headline, ”PETA wants carousel maker to stop creating rides with animal figures”. Not animals. Animal figures. At the very least,... Continue Reading

Author’s Note: This story was prompted by my wife, Anne, with whom I shared the story I’m about to share with you. When I told her the story, she said, “Six strings. You should write about that.” And people wonder why I love her as I do. The woman is like the tide she comes and goes. She knows the things that I can just suppose. (Dan Fogelberg, “Comes and Goes”) On January 13th of this year, Craig James and Mac Bogert included me in some email correspondence having to do with the fact that Craig was changing the strings on his acoustic guitar for the first time in something like... Continue Reading

Growing older is a natural part of life’s journey, yet for many, it comes with a sense of loneliness. When we were kids, teenagers, and young adults, we often determined our self-worth by the number of friends we had in our circle. As we begin to get older, we may prefer having fewer, but closer friends with more meaningful connections sharing the same hobbies, philosophies, and likes. What do we expect from our relationships as we grow into our baby boomer years and beyond? According to the Perspectives on Psychological Science, older adults’ relationship expectations include: Having opportunities... Continue Reading

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

That may seem like an odd title for this post because it’s a celebration of the Holiday Season, a reflection of my incorrigibly stubborn hopefulness, and an acknowledgement of the inscrutability of human nature. So, perhaps I should explain. The world, as you likely know, is rife with turmoil. I say as you likely know because the world’s always in turmoil. We’re human beings. Turmoil is what we do. And why not? We’re really good at it. We’ve been good at it for our entire history on the planet. That turmoil manifests in our 24-hour news cycles with stories of rising antisemitism, of... Continue Reading

Since the beginning of America, we have been a very giving people. Starting with the Pilgrims in 1630, neighbors relied on each other to survive the harsh winters. The settlers raised each other’s barns, hosted quilting bees for the community, and built common areas in their towns. Benjamin Franklin, one of the most famous American Founding Fathers is also known as the Founding Father of American volunteerism in the late 1700’s. He gathered volunteers to sweep the streets of Philadelphia, organized the nation’s first volunteer fire department, established a voluntary militia, and organized... 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