Gratitude is defined in merriem-webster.com as, “the state of being grateful; thankfulness.” Mr. Webster further defines grateful as, “appreciative of benefits received.” So, I express gratitude following receipt of some benefit; and, the benefit is realized from some expectation I have. Katie Lane (@allamericanlane) recently reminded me that gratitude is a great way to battle negativity; but, unreasonable expectations can lead to disharmony as I pile unreasonable or irrational hopes upon unsuspecting family, friends, or acquaintances (twitter.com, 9/20/18). Of course,…..
When I was a small boy, I would find myself captivated by the wooded hills of Southwest Pennsylvania. They were steep and high, mountains to a small boy. And the woods were deep, dark, and mysterious. Those hills were inspiring and wondrous, and deserving of a certain reverence. I couldn’t help but be awed by their beauty, even to this day. Steven Handel reminds us that awe is a positive emotion that is, “an overwhelming feeling of amazement for something…..
“wtf is this shit?” That was the comment one individual made in response to a recent facebook post about my poetry anthology, Reborn and Other Versifications. No serious inquiry as to the subject matter, no friendly congratulations, no thoughtful critique. Simply the vulgar question, “wtf is this shit?” I don’t know the person who framed the question so eloquently; nor do I know why he asked the question in the way he did. Feedback is a gift, for sure; how…..
Roger Kemenetz in his piece, “Dreams and the Poetic Imagination,” wrote that Wordsworth, one of literature’s great poets, found value in “restorative images” for healing the “impaired imagination” through contemplation of historical dramatic events that Wordsworth referred to as “spots of time.”1 What Wordsworth learned was born out, I believe, through a study conducted at the University of Birmingham that demonstrated that intentionally recalling memories can lead to forgetting other experiences. In other words, the study suggested that the recall…..
Words have the power to hurt or to heal. This is a truth acknowledged by philosophers, psychologists, religious figures, and the common man or woman throughout the world since the beginning of time. The Buddha is quoted as saying, “Words have the power to both destroy and heal. When words are both true and kind, they can change the world.” Contemporary Christian music artist Toby Mac in his song, “Speak Life,” says, “Mountains crumble with every syllable, hope can…..
In the Star Wars universe, the Jedi had mastered what they referred to as “The Force,” that semi-conscious energy that surrounds, penetrates, and connects all things in the universe. The website www.starstuffs.com, Interconnection page, illustrates that the various world’s wisdoms have at their root the belief in the unity of all things in the universe and the common quest to achieve unity with our origin.1 Dietrich Bonhoeffer tells us that it is through the knowledge of God as our origin…..
We are a reflection of our origin. Genesis 1:26 and 27 tells us that God created humankind in his image. As such, we are God’s likeness in his creation. We are the “Signature of the Divine;” as the contemporary Christian music group, Needtobreathe, said in the song of the same title. Being created in his image, we are endowed with attributes that relate to God’s nature. One of these is the need to create. In the classic sense, to create…..
Human beings are social creatures; I think that we can all agree on that. Abraham Maslow theorized about the needs that motivate us in his Hierarchy of Needs: physiological, safety, love/belonging, esteem, and self-actualization. I can see where socializing contributes to meeting all of those needs. However, being social isn’t something unique to humans as other creatures live in cooperative groups. The simple act of socializing helps any organism living in community achieve its physiological and safety needs. There is even…..
I think its fair to say that humankind has always had a yearning to connect with its origin. There are any number of ways in which we have, or are, taking that journey. I may reach for the stars studying the cosmos or delve into the secrets of subatomic particles. I could pour over religious texts while living on an isolated mountaintop in a perpetual meditative state. Perhaps taking up philosophy or ethics would be my chosen path to understanding. …..
“There is always hope.” That’s a truth that I keep foremost in my mind at all times and in all situations. What do I mean by that? I suppose that if you looked, you would find some sanitized definition of “hope” that describes it in clinical terms. Miriam-Webster provides this as one definition: desire accompanied by expectation of or belief in fulfillment.1 Such a definition, though, doesn’t quite satisfy when I think of hope and its importance to my human…..