By Charles E. Smith | Bio
Last night I was sitting in front of CNN, drinking wine, hoping that "in vino veritas" would once again prove true. What was I to do with my future?
I was so sick of making lists, I could have screamed. I wanted, once
and for all, a goal that would bring salvation with it. I wanted a
colleague, friend or lover who would answer all my questions and
provide me with terminal support. I wanted to name a program that would
By Stu Whitley | Bio
So
what is to be done about depression? Much the same, I think, as
rediscovering the rational self in a time when emotions hold sway. Not
an easy task, but it’s done all the time. One disciplines oneself to
think. The brain is exercised through reading, or better yet, writing.
Journaling is a powerful tool to self-discovery, and one doesn’t need
to be a Joseph Conrad to diarize one’s thoughts. What better way to
explore the inner
We had another meeting of the Old Souls group—my buddies from over the years who get together every few months to share our lives and experience as we grow older. We’ve been at it since 2001 and it is a special opportunity not only to be with friends, but also to have the kind of reflective space that empowers each of us in our own lives. The wife of one of our members marvels at how rare it is to find a group of men who are willing to be so open, vulnerable and supportive.
I have belonged
Virtual games do not belong only to the young. In a recent news report out of Boston, seniors have adopted Wii and are planning local tournaments and playing with their children and grandchildren. Nintendo’s Wii game, released in late 2006, allows users to play games such as baseball, boxing, tennis, bowling and golf in
Co-housing initiatives began in the 1970s in Denmark. Elder co-housing projects are the latest take on this popular type of housing development. With an emphasis on cooperative living arrangements, these projects allow like-minded people to live in an intentional community of their own creation. The idea is that individuals have their own living areas, but share common facilities like dining rooms and kitchens. Developers often allow residents to help plan and design the common areas. The
By Don Arnoudse | Bio
There
is a vitality, a life-force, an energy, a quickening that is translated
through you into action. And because there is only one of you in all of
time, this expression is unique. And if you block it, it will never
exist through any other medium and be lost. The world will not have it.
It is not your business to determine how good it is nor how valuable
nor how it compares with other expressions.
It is
By Rick Fullerton | Bio
For much of my life, I have had a private conversation about dying. It began as a young child, probably triggered by overhearing my parents talking about people fighting cancer or other scary diseases. When I was 12 and our family doctor knocked on the schoolroom door, my first thought was that he had figured out I was going to die. I was shocked to discover he had come to tell me my father had died of a heart attack at just 53. I was devastated! Our family survived, mainly due to the strength and resourcefulness of my mother, along with a supportive extended family and local community. As for me, I learned to deal with my fears mainly through my internal conversations. Never as I child did I talk about this secret and only rarely in later life. Yet looking back, it is possible to see how this fear of dying influenced many of my life decisions and shaped the person I am today.I
got married when I was 21—much too young according to my Aunt Laura!
But my wife and I were anxious to get on with raising a family. No time
to waste seeing the world or pursuing idle interests! In those days of
single incomes and stay-at-home moms, my role was clear and I was
determined to provide for my family. Duty called!
As life’s
milestones passed, my conversations about dying changed. At 30, I was
apparently in perfect health—no evidence of cancer,
I heard a friend saying that they were ‘over committed’. I got to thinking that this is a common notion and one that we rarely question. Is it possible to over commit? I can understand being busy. I can understand not being competent to fulfill a commitment. I can even imagine that I have made commitments that seem to conflict, although other than being able to be in two places at the same time, most of the conflict is in how I am thinking about it.
One of
Hot on the heels of neuroplasticity is the paperback release this week of Lynne McTaggart’s The Intention Experiment, an investigation into intentions manifesting into reality. The Intention Experiment’s website
is an open invitation to get involved in a worldwide experiment into
the ‘science
By Shae Hadden | Bio
The other day a friend mentioned a term I’d never heard before: neuroplasticity.
So I looked it up on Wikipedia (yes, click on the link and you can go
there too) and was amazed to find out that scientists are now proving
that our thinking can actually change our brain anatomy.
Neuroplasticity
challenges the conventional wisdom that specific brain functions, such
as speech and vision, are located in a
specific cortex (or center). The traditional medical