An avid reader as a child, at some point I remember being intrigued by a rather simple discovery: that most of the really interesting people in life came from difficult circumstances. I don't remember any notable personalities, artists, writers, etc., emerging from the antiseptic world of suburban America (or any nicely developed stretch of society). [...]

In the sci-fi classic "Invasion of the Body Snatchers," our heroes discover that most of the once-familiar faces around them are, in fact, hostile aliens in cloned human costume. The story resonates precisely because it taps into that most primal of human fears: that each of us is truly alone in a hostile universe. This is [...]

Sitting on the beach last week, watching the waves rise and fall, rise and fall. The tide rolling in, receding. Clouds building, abating. Birds (and humans) coming, going. Any or all of it a perfect metaphor for life, for existence itself. Little wonder that the mystics so often use the ocean and its waves to explain [...]

A lot of people have been pretty upset about Robin Williams's suicide. Many reasons for their unhappiness are given. Ultimately, I think it boils down to this: If someone like Robin Williams - a man who ostensibly 'has it all' - finds life unworthy of the effort, what chance do the rest of us have? Be [...]

It is said the greatest of all human addictions is that to one's self, which is to say, the addiction to an I that stands separate, alone, and ultimately doomed. Looking back it's pretty clear that the way I reinforced and ensured that addiction - the way all of us do - is by snatching [...]

As children we learn to trust the authority of the twin deities called 'mom' and 'dad' and then, a bit later, that same authority is transferred to the school gods known as teachers. As young children even our friends serve as erstwhile thought leaders, since they shed light into worlds (the homes around us) about which we [...]

When I was a kid my mom used to caution that I was "too smart for my own good." She was right. We'll circle back to this in a moment. Recently I've been marveling at - and feeling gratitude for - the many and varied changes that seem to have unfolded within this vehicle called 'me' [...]

As I see it, each of us has but two choices to make in life: to use our existence to explore our own true nature, or to exist as a human. It's really that simple. If most mystical traditions are to be believed, the vast majority of us opt for the latter, and live out [...]

This thing called 'life' has kept me exceptionally busy of late. When this happens the little voice within can't be heard, drowned out by all the items on the To Do list, all the drama, the concepts running amok. Early this morning, however, the little voice was heard, lurking as it so often does behind [...]

One of movie history's great lines comes from Jack Nicholson's Marine Corps character in A Few Good Men, when he barks, "You can't handle the truth!" He's right. We can't. Well, we can, but that requires a turn of the worm, a willingness to challenge the thoughts that pop into our heads, pass from our [...]