Category Archives: Wisdom in Action

Wisdom in Action

California Musings

By Jim Selman | Bio

I spent the weekend in California, hanging out with my children and visiting old friends. I was in both Los Angeles and San Francisco and picked up on the current mood from both ends of the State—at least based on my small sample of conversations. The consensus is that California is a great place to live, but a fiscal and political mess.

The deficit is staggering (over 25 billion and rising). The governor has been terminated politically speaking and can’t get the politicians or the public to go along with his well-intended proposals to fix the problems. Most of the money that is around is tied up and pre-allocated by a system of arcane initiatives that make the democratic process look and feel like a straightjacket. I am told that the famously inept and unworkable politics of Sacramento look more like “politics

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Wisdom in Action

When do we take action?

By Jim Selman | Bio

The conventional wisdom in Alcoholics Anonymous is that alcoholism is a ‘disease’ of the ego—self-centeredness. Basically the alcoholic becomes trapped in his or her own point of view and denies any other perspective on ‘reality’. The alcohol is a symptom of a loss of control and choice—a condition of cognitive blindness and a self-destructive pattern of behavior. I have distinguished that culture works the same way. That is, the ego is to the individual what culture

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Wisdom in Action

Caregiving: A Family Responsibility

By Kevin Brown | Bio

Recently I was reading a blog post by Paul Span and the associated stream of comments in the New York Times concerning the use of contracts between a family member providing care, a family member receiving care, and other family members. I must say that initially I found the idea of a contract somewhat disturbing. I realize that the idea bothers me because I hold the

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Wisdom in Action

Seniors and Children: An Ideal Relationship

By Kevin Brown | Bio

Like me, you can probably remember a relationship you had as a child with an elderly relative or friend of the family. Some of my best memories of such a time involve Mrs. Cowling, an elderly lady who lived next door to us. We had just moved to a new neighborhood in Calgary, and there were only two completed homes on the block. Our home had the only family of children for about three blocks. There was my older sister Paulette (13 years old), myself (7) , and my brand new brother Ken who was not

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Wisdom in Action

The Real Magic of MIchael

By Jim Selman | Bio

I remember a Harvard Lampoon edition of the New York Post back during the cold war. At the top of the page, ½-inch letters proclaimed the headline: “Russia drops the Big One—World War III Declared”. Right below the enormous NY Post-style 6’’-wide banner was the headline “MICHAEL JACKSON DIES”. It was funny then, but it is not so funny now that he has, in fact, like Elvis before him, become a force of history. I am reminded of the Lampoon as I watch the round-the-clock all-channel coverage following Michael Jackson’s death. It seems to me he is getting more airtime than Sammy Davis, Dean Martin and Frank Sinatra all put together. Who else could have pushed the Iranian election crisis to the back burner?

I confess I am of a different generation than the Michael Jackson phenomenon. I have never been to a concert, have not seen most of his famous music videos and appearances, and remain a bit perplexed about the hubbub surrounding his demise. I am learning more about him and his extraordinary career now from posthumous coverage of his accomplishments and am beginning to appreciate his fame and contributions to music and dance. I am sorry to hear of anyone dying so young and am

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Wisdom in Action

What is an Elder?

By Jim Selman | Bio

As founder of The Eldering Institute, I am a bit embarrassed to acknowledge that until last week I had not asked the straightforward question, “What is an elder?”  This is not to say I haven’t been involved in the conversation for quite a long time. I have spoken with Elders in aboriginal communities, African tribes, and religious communities. I have read everything I can find on the subject. There is no doubt that the

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Wisdom in Action

What To Choose After This Bad Week

By Jim Selman | Bio

Last week was not a good week for the planet and I’ve been taking it personally. Aside from the Iran Crisis and North Korea, we had the usual games being played in Europe, South America and Southeast Asia. At some moment, I realized that I had once again drifted into a spectator role. I was trying to sort out the good insurgents from the bad insurgents, the real terrorists from the "revolutionaries", and I was finding that the conservative/liberal divide seems to be a universal constant everywhere we look.

As President Obama is declaring the possibility of mutual respect and tolerance between religions and all people, we see Iran’s "Supreme Leader" declaring ‘death’ to all who oppose the current regime and the North Korean guy promising to drop the big one if anyone screws around with his boatload of nuclear armaments going to the Middle East.

I am of two minds here. On one side, I am tired of playing good guys and bad guys and want to just scream…"STOP!

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Wisdom in Action

No Regrets, Let’s Clean Up the Mess Together – Part II

By Jim Selman | Bio

"The worldviews of our two generations are both equally valid. They are simply our assessments of ‘the way it is’ and what is and is not possible. Neither of our assessments are ‘the truth’. And neither are ‘false’.

Understanding this doesn’t make understanding each other’s perspective any easier. I have experience and perspective that you don’t have, just as you have experience and perspective that I don’t have. I may never understand the appeal in having tattoos or spending large amounts of time in virtual space. You may never understand the kind of ‘faith’ many of my peers have in public institutions. If we are going to work together, we need to be able to accept and appreciate

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Wisdom in Action

No Regrets, Let’s Clean Up the Mess Together

By Jim Selman | Bio

The Wall Street Journal last week had an article on the new theme of the annual commencement speech celebrity sweepstakes: “We are really, really sorry”. On campus after campus, speakers of the Boomer generation were apologizing to the twenty-something generation (I don’t remember the nomenclature for this batch of graduates) for the self-centered and often greedy abuses of

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