Do you remember when networks of computers first arrived on the scene? Moving information onto the new technological platform decentralized and dispersed information and knowledge, a move that resulted in a significant communications revolution that still has repercussions today. Giving people the ability to access and share what had previously existed only on paper or in the minds of certain individuals not only sped up the rate of transactions, but also freed individuals from a certain amount

We’re all connected-whether we like it or not. We have seen our world through the eyes of astronauts, and there is no going back. Globalization is as much a product of space flights, satellites, air transportation, and the telephone as it is a product of our (relatively recent) capacity to communicate and coordinate our actions at long distances using technology. It really is just one world.

Online shopping is slowly creeping up on us, with eBay and Amazon the main competitors. 5 years ago,

Lately I have been distinguishing the ‘historical self’ as one way we can talk about who we are. Normally, this is the ‘self’ that runs the show throughout a lot of our life. One fact of growing older is that there’s a lot more behind us than in front of us—more years of patterns and habits in our thoughts, behaviors and ‘ways of being’. I think everyone knows (and has probably experienced) that habits are hard to break. Some are so hard to change that the line between habit and

In the face of all the current threats to civilization and the end of life as we know it, I’m a bit reluctant to focus on my number one ‘peeve’. But I think it’s symptomatic of a deep and growing philosophical and social problem that leaves people feeling powerless. I am referring, of course, to computerized phone systems that answer incoming calls and lead you through a process, allegedly to assist you by answering your questions or finding the right human being for you to speak with.

I

Growth is one of those words that we all hear as a good thing. Unless we’re talking about the growth of something we don’t want, such as hair in your nose, corns on your feet or malignant cells in your body. We also don’t want growth in crime, in violence, in substance abuse or in any other socially undesirable areas. We aren’t fond of seeing growth in inflation, pollution, teen pregnancy or vacuous television programming (ah, the contrived nature of ‘reality TV’!).  And, of course,

I’m beginning to appreciate the subtle shifts that can happen when we retire and don’t have all the props and externals sources of stimulation to motivate us, provoke our actions, and give us feedback on what and how we are doing. These days, quite a few people I know are either retiring or thinking about it. A few seem genuinely excited at the prospect, a couple are a bit tentative and worried about how they will fare, and a number seem matter-of-fact about it (they’re kind of just doing

I suppose today is as good as any day to write about self-doubt as I grow older. After all, there is nothing quite like fooling yourself — it is the kind of blindness that keeps us trapped in our patterns and our past, rationalizing what we are doing or not doing without even being aware that we’re trapped in our point of view. 

What prompted my musings on self-doubt today? I returned from my South American trip more tired than usual.

I had breakfast with a very interesting man in Buenos Aires named Dario Fainstain. He is an engaging and committed man in his early 40s who is working to help people through training their ‘voice’ to resonate with deeper truths and larger possibilities. I don’t pretend to know or grasp his work fully, but wanted to share some of it as I see it might relate to growing older.
 
Dario was raised singing and chanting in his synagogue. He trained to sing opera and later became

One of the keys to successful aging—or successful anything for that matter—is having the right attitude. Yet knowing you should have a good attitude doesn’t help much when you have a bad one. It’s about as useful as your mother telling you not to worry when you’re worried. Advice about attitude doesn’t help change whatever it is you’re talking about.

Nonetheless, when we talk about ‘attitudes’ we all know more or less what we are speaking about—an embodied point of view or outlook