Monthly Archives: September 2008

Leadership

Angst

By Jim Selman | Bio

I like this word. I don’t know why…perhaps because it is one of those words that seems to express itself in speaking of it. The word means ‘anxiety’—a kind of generalized anxiety with being alive.

The existential philosophers talked a lot about angst. In fact, we
normally associate angst with existentialism—existential angst. The
word is usually associated with a negative mood such as depression or
what Thomas Merton characterized as “the dark night of the soul”. I
think that Heidegger talked about it as the inherent tension between
‘being’ and ‘non-being’. I think that angst underlies the ‘suffering’
that Buddha associated

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Leadership

Conversations about Palin

By Shae Hadden | Bio

Since Sarah Palin’s Gibson interviews, I’ve been hearing a lot of people saying that she reminds them of George Bush—even more so than John McCain does. Some of the similarities they’re seeing between Palin and Bush include:

  • Divisiveness and undignified, confrontational expressions toward other countries and their leaders
  • Ability to boldly state untruths over and over again
  • Cocky demeanor and foolish pride in being decisive even when they don’t have

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Wisdom in Action

You’re in My Corner

By Lauren Selman | Bio

"Don’t worry about it, you’ve got me in your corner." These are the words that make a child warm inside and feel like they can accomplish anything.

My father said this to me the other day, and when he said it I felt like I was on top of the world and that I could do anything. I was scared and intimidated, but that fear lifted when I knew he would be there. Like Rocky in the ring, I can look back and know that he is there coaching me on my swing and my

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Health

Cancer

By Vince DiBianca | Bio

Over the last year or two, I’ve found myself surrounded by family and friends who have been diagnosed with cancer of different forms. I’d say the number amounts to a dozen people. Of these, only two are in remission (breast cancer and testicular cancer). Six have passed away (after lengthy chemo/radiation) and the remaining four are in the midst of their “battle”, as it’s put. These are, seemingly, not great odds of survival.

This seems like an unusually high incidence rate in such a short time. Is it our age? Is it The Age? I can’t attribute it purely to aging since these people range in age from their early 40s to their 80s. Trying to identify the cause of their cancer feels hopeless. Is it genetics, high stress, diet-related, environmental toxins, virus/fungus or bacteria-related, a run-down immune system, lack of nurturing, happenstance, fate or something else? I have my suspicions, but

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Fearless Aging

The Way It is

By Irene Noble 

My mother, my friend, died when she was 91. I miss her still, yet it was eighteen years ago.  She was a beautiful, elegant, stylish lady. More than that, she was forgiving, uncomplicated by her total honesty, always willing to learn new ways, new directions even though it might require a reversal of old assumptions.

When our family gathers around a Christmas tree,
a dinner table or backyard barbeque, we usually bring in to our
conversation the people who are no longer with us. We laugh at moments
we remember, we cherish the time they were here and, sometimes, we mock
the things they used to say. My mother summed up just about everything
with these words, “That’s the way it is.” I can’t count the times we
have all laughed and said in unison when

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News

Booking Travel Online

Even though online travel sales are growing, fewer people are actually booking their trips online. According to a recent report from eMarketer, online travel sites are directing customers back to offline travel agents. This represents a complete turnaround in consumer trends during the past decade, but not a complete surprise. Dissatisfaction with online booking engines and tools that are not user-friendly has driven customers to return traditional travel agencies or to turn to new online competitors

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Fearless Aging

Friendship

By Jim Selman | Bio

I am spending a few days with my best
friends—11 guys who get together a couple of times a year to share our experience of our lives and support each other through difficult times or to celebrate accomplishments. We usually meet at Vince’s farm at least once a year. It is a magnificent property in Western New Jersey with geese, chickens, horses, a couple of llamas and lots of deer on a rolling green framing a revolutionary era stone house and two imposing red barns. 

We are all more or less in our sixties with one younger and one older. We are all in business or retired and we’ve all succeeded by most standards. Aside from lots of laughter and a few tears, we spend a lot of time listening to each other. The space we create for each other is one of unconditional love and respect, which generally allows us to express ourselves in ways in which we don’t normally have the opportunity. We are never judgmental, and whatever ‘coaching’

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News

Back to School Deals

As children head back to school in the coming days, now is a good time for their parents to look into the
possibility of continuing their own education with the financial support
of their employer. According to a July 2008 survey conducted by the Institute for Corporate Productivity in Seattle, 81% of survey participants reimburse employees for tuition and 92.5% of the large corporations (over 10, 000 people) pay for schooling. Many HR managers claim these educational reimbursement

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The Great Turning

We Are Hard-Wired to Care and Connect

By David Korten | Website

Reprinted from  "Purple America," the Fall 2008 YES! Magazine
284 Madrona Way NE Ste 116, Bainbridge Island, WA 98110.  Subscriptions: 800/937-4451 

The story of purple America is part of a
yet larger human story. For all the cultural differences reflected in
our richly varied customs, languages, religions, and political
ideologies, psychologically healthy humans share a number of core
values and aspirations. Although we

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News

Oldest Person Alive

The oldest person alive today is Edna Scott Parker (born April 20, 1893). This American supercentenarian entered the top 20 verified oldest people ever in June 2008. She replaced Yone Minagawa of Japan as the oldest person in the world (following his death on August 13, 2007) and Corinne Dixon Taylor of Washington, DC as the oldest person in America (following her death on February 14, 2007

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