Recovery. Sobriety. Living Wise.
Where do the poor find wealth? Amazon’s recent adventure in New York turned out to be a kind of morality play for me. I found myself thinking how hard it is to turn down the promise of wealth and how easy it is to get mesmerized by the lure of great riches. So when the New York community pushed back against Amazon hard enough that … Continue reading Poor Man’s Wealth
Every now and again a story comes along and serves as a mirror to my inner life. Good stories allow me to put a face to my thoughts. Sometimes the face so resembles me it’s scary, funny, illuminating, and maybe even healing. This little fable on catastrophic thinking made me laugh, cry, and scream all at the same time, and turned the mirror on my … Continue reading From Catastrophe to Change
When I traveled to India last November I flew a polar route through Dubai. I was lucky enough to have sitting next to me a 29-year-old economist from the UK named Chris. He was going to Abu Dabi for a conference on famine relief and since we had a 16-hour flight, we struck up a conversation that was for me both fascinating and a bit disturbing. … Continue reading Letting Go
I recently met a long-time buddy for a belated birthday chat. We go way back, to my drinking days, when the nights were long and the days were blurry. We both have been sober a good while, so we can now share a good laugh at the bad old days and just be thankful we made it through alive. As we were readying to leave, … Continue reading Learning to Listen
Marsha and I would like to wish you all a very merry Christmas. We, like many of you, have struggled over the years with how to infuse this holiday with a meaning beyond traditional stories and Christmas gifts. Now that we are grandparents this search has taken on added importance. I asked myself recently if it was in my power to grant young Sam any gift of … Continue reading A Christmas Gift