The title is a quote from a Louise Penny novel and she entitles it as “the four sayings that lead to wisdom.” She includes this in her book Kingdom of the Blind as something that her main character Inspector Gamache learned when he was young. Louise Penny is a Canadian mystery writer who has won a number…

“I was there I remember it all too well” is a lyric from a Taylor Swift song “All Too Well” that seems to validate what she experienced in a relationship…does she need to validate herself? I don’t believe that anyone needs to validate themselves through some one else. So why do we do this? What…

The above is from the movie “Shaw Shank Redemption” in a letter written by Andy to Red encouraging Red to not give up and to join Andy after Red is paroled. And Red does just that. So, is that statement true. Is hope the best of things and will it never die? How is that…

The title refers to a quote from Thomas Jefferson about people who do not take responsibility for themselves and are thus like pick pockets are robbing others. The quote is referring to freedom of religion as an example of something that does not injure anyone when someone expresses their religious preference. “It neither picks your…

Recently I have been having moments of intense sadness that I realized were connected to hearing about conflicts between people that ends up reinforcing them being separate and even feeling against each other. Sad, because it is sad when people feel separated from each other. It does not need to be this way.  I believe…

The above is from The Beatryce Prophecy by Kate DiCamillo. It is a book about faith in oneself [Beatryce in herself] and this allows you to trust and have faith in others to help you. It is about being brave [doing what we know is right] so that we do not turn away from what is right…

The above title is a quote from Robin Wall Kimmerer in her book Braiding Sweetgrass. She feels that we are meant to have a reciprocal relationship with other living beings [all living creatures]. A sharing, mutual enhancement, caring and being with each other that fills up our daily lives. This she calls reciprocity and will lead to…

I am writing this a day after an 18 year old killed 19 fourth grade children and 2 teachers. He had recently [after turning 18] purchased two AR-15 [assault] rifles and carried one into the elementary school. These rifles that the NRA calls “America’s rifle”can rapidly fire 40 bullets and are easy to reload. They…

“I just listened.” That is what a woman told me about her response when she was with someone who had just had a family member die suddenly. This woman was convinced that she had not been helpful and felt inadequate because of her listening and not talking. I asked what the person who had experienced…

Earlier, I wrote about the impact of being bullied and being a bully, ten years later. One study showed that children who were bullied were at significantly inreased risk for anxiety and depressive disorders while males were also more likely to be suicidal and girls to have agoraphobia [fear of public spaces and crowds]. The…