Spanish Guitar: A Story of an Immigrant Growing up with Melody and Dissonance
The guitar is a small orchestra. It is polyphonic. Every string is a different color, a different voice. – Andres Segovia, Spanish classical guitarist In the corner leaning against the wall, you would have found my mahogany Spanish guitar and its case on the floor, dusty and worn, and you would have thought nothing of…
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Book Review: A Guide to the Good Life {the ancient art of stoic joy} by William B. Irvine
Life is very short and anxious for those who forget the past, neglect the present, and fear the future. – Seneca One of the most transforming books I have ever read is A Guide to the Good Life {the ancient art of stoic joy} by William B. Irvine. Before reading the book, I thought Stoicism…
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You Are the Missing Puzzle Piece: 2 Observations About the Daily Mind-Fight We All Experience
Every day is a mind-fight lately. Every single day. I am addicted to news, and it is harming me. I need to put away my phone and focus on what I can change or improve, not on everything that goes on everywhere. Can you relate to this? You might be like me and need…
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4 Thoughts on Covid-19 and the State of the World – and What to Do About Both
I thought the world had ended this morning. I live in a neighborhood near a lovely walking path. My habit now is taking a walk first thing after getting out of bed. Most mornings, I hear the birds singing, cars leaving their garages heading to work, and traffic in the distance. There is usually some…
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Where Seagulls Always Fly: A Letter to My Late Brother
Dear Little Brother, Today is the day you would have turned 50. There is nothing I can say, even now, to make sense of your life. The more I think about it, the more I don’t understand. I don’t understand why you had to experience what you experienced and why you had to suffer so…
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Why Creativity and Imagination in a Crazy-Busy, Suck-the-Life-Out of Us-World
“I am enough of the artist to draw freely upon my imagination. Imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the world.” – Albert Einstein As a brilliant physicist, Albert Einstein was also a master creator. Why? Because he knew before anything becomes physical matter, it must first be imagined. He also knew…
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Book Review: The Hard Side of the River: A Novel of Abolition by Johnny Payne
Did you know the roots of slavery date back to 6800 B.C.? It was then that Mesopotamia emerged as the world’s first thriving city with land ownership and the very earliest stages of technology. What came after? War and thus, slavery – back then, the captured enemies were forced to work for their capturers. Over…
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Book Review: Too Much and Never Enough: How My Family Created the World’s Most Dangerous Man by Mary L. Trump
“If the soul is left in darkness, sins will be committed. The guilty one is not the one who [sins], but the one who causes the darkness.” – Victor Hugo, Les Miserables She warned everyone. She has been warning everyone for years. She was right. Before I begin on the gist of this book review,…
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Book Review: Hidden Valley Road: Inside the Mind of an American Family by Robert Kolker
Since the last mid-century, the search for a cure for schizophrenia has been elusive. Although positive strides have been made in the last few decades in finding a solution, researchers are no closer, nor do they agree on what causes the illness. In the meantime, 2.6 million people in the United States suffer from this…
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Reframing Your Painful Memories During the Holiday Season
Last week, I backed out of my garage wearing my black mask, heavy winter coat, and bright red mittens to grab some last-minute gifts for Christmas on this Covid-19 year. I celebrate without the religious fuss. Inside the store, as I tried to social-distance while perusing the aisles full of holiday hoopla, I remembered past…
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