So here we are. The world panics, gobs of people grow ill and die, and everywhere comes the question, "When can we return to real life?" or, similarly, "When will we get back to normal?" To which I think, "Why?" Years ago when my ex-wife returned from her six-week stint in a posh upstate New [...]

A comedian once said the surest way to keep the seat beside you empty was, when asked if it was taken, to answer: "Nope, just me and God." Guaranteed that the interloper will keep moving, joked the comedian. Only it's not really a joke, is it? God has become the crazy uncle we keep hidden [...]

Our son has reached that age where he's starting to mainline some of the same shows we do. The other day he completed HBO's 'Silicon Valley,' a funny little 6-season series following the trials and tribulations of a tech startup. Despite loving the show, our son was a bit disappointed by its conclusion. The reason? [...]

A popular mobile game called Wordscapes requires players to create an exhaustive list of words from a handful of letters in order to solve an associated crossword puzzle. Since I fancy myself something of a wordsmith, I try to create all of the words by gazing only at the available letters and averting my eyes [...]

The spiritual search is fed on surrender. The more we hand over the reins, the more life or God or whatever meets us half-way. In essence, the besieged, frightened, miserable ego reaches a point and says, "I haven't got a clue what's going on or how to make things better. I need help." And each [...]

Your eye has three receptors for perceiving red, blue, and green. The eye and brain then combine those colors to allow for approximately 300 different shades of color (e.g. orange, purple, yellow, and so on). This, for all intents and purposes, constitutes the world that we see. What if we wanted to see the entire [...]

More than 13 years ago I fell to my knees and gave up. Literally gave up. And out came the words: "I can't do this anymore, I'm so tired of hurting, of being afraid. I surrender." I surrender. Two words I'm fairly certain I'd never before uttered. I've covered what happened next in previous posts [...]

It wakes you in the wee hours when you want only to sleep, whispers in your ear while you celebrate yet another milestone birthday, gazes up at you from earth or urn when you say good-bye to yet another loved one. It is the question that has haunted every self-aware human since the dawn of [...]

Most of us are eager for our kids to be happy. We focus on creating happiness in them, guide them toward adult paths we believe will lead to happiness, and give them pep talks (or employ other antidotes) when they’re down so that they may return as quickly as possible to a state of happiness. [...]

Am currently buried in an astonishing, Pulitzer-winning book Barbara Kingsolver rightfully described as "Monumental - a gigantic fable of genuine truths." The book tells the story of nine very different people who converge at story's end, courtesy their unique discovery of human life as part of - rather than central to - the natural world. The [...]