“In that first year, I would glimpse my share of death. I sometimes saw it while peeking around corners, other times while feeling embarrassed to be caught in the same room.” ~ excerpt from Paul Kalanithi’s When Breath Becomes Air In his last year of training to become a neurosurgeon, Dr. Paul Kalanithi is diagnosed …Read More
Category: Books
Story: Never Forget – Unknown Soldier
Unsure of how to proceed, the young soldier prayed silently while he continued to pace. As if summoned by some invisible force, he homed in on one of the flag-swathed caskets. “I know this man,” he thought. His arms seemed to move of their own accord, placing the roses he held atop the coffin. ~ …Read More
Litany Against Fear ~ Frank Herbert’s Dune
“I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path. Where the fear has gone there will …Read More
Graphic Novel: March by John Lewis
“We wanted to change America. Make it something different, something better.” The genre of the graphic novel is not usually associated with historical non-fiction. Most people are familiar with comic strips in the newspaper and comic book periodicals. The graphic novel delivers a stand-alone longer narrative in a form similar to the comic strip with …Read More
The Answer to Life the Universe and Everything
“How old are you?” we asked as we gathered at the Thai restaurant for a birthday dinner celebration. I was already debating between Red Thai Curry, that delicious explosion of delicate coconut and hot pepper spices, or the old standard of Pad Thai noodles. “Forty-two,” he said with the same look that a child might …Read More
To Thine Own Self Be True ~ Shakespeare
Polonius gives advice to his son, Laertes, in Shakespeare’s tragedy, Hamlet. Laertes is leaving Denmark to study abroad in France. Polonius states that he only has a “few precepts,” but his long-winded speech goes on and on as a sort-of comic relief in the middle of the tragedy. In high school, I recited this speech …Read More
Double, double toil and trouble ~ Shakespeare
In Shakespeare’s Macbeth, the three witches predict the future with double meanings and duplicity. The clever predictions spur Macbeth towards heinous choices and into murderous actions. The famous incantation echoes, “Double, double toil and trouble; Fire burn, and cauldron bubble.” We know that no good can come from listening to the witches, but Macbeth’s ambition …Read More
Telling the Difficult Story
“We know from the testimony of both victims and perpetrators that silence makes abuse possible.” ~Loren Neimi and Elizabeth Ellis, Inviting the Wolf In: Thinking About Difficult Stories We tell our difficult stories to make the world a better place. In therapy or therapeutic safe space, sharing our raw stories allows us to process emotions, …Read More
The Why Engine ~ Ridgely Goldsborough
“WHAT do you do?”“HOW do you do it?”“WHY?” At any networking event, it’s the “WHY” question that stumps most people, including me. There are many reasons to do what you do: fame, fortune, family, fun…. I’d like a dose of all of them, but instead I struggle to come up with a “socially acceptable” reason. …Read More
Play as a Cure for Anxiety ~ Charlie Hoehn
“The paradox of play is that it recharges us, refreshes us, rejuvenates us, and allows us to go back an do great work. If we don’t allow ourselves to play, we become joyless. We become serious. We have to take pills just to sit still and focus. Human beings need play. It is not a …Read More