One thing I know about happiness is that it comes from the narrative of our life. The story we tell ourselves. But too often, we let others write that story for us. Unhappiness and discontent inevitably follow. The only person who can write the story of your life properly is you. In order to change our narrative to an authentic one, one we write ourselves, we must change our perspective, and thus our perceptions of our world. This is not a new idea. Plato explained it in “Allegory of the Cave” over 2,300 years ago. A small change in perception can mean a huge change in what we see. And changing how we see lets us write a new narrative. The Dalai Lama also explores this idea of the relationship between perception and a good life in his book The Art of Happiness (99¢ in the remainder bin . . . maybe you can buy happiness after all!).
Music is one of those things in life that can stir up a lot of emotional debate. First is, of course, arguments over which musical style–Hip Hop, Country, Jazz, etc.–is best. Then there are disagreements about the best songs an artist has recorded. And then there are covers of existing songs by other artists, particularly […]
My favorite web site (besides USR of course) is I Fucking Love Science. For the uninitiated, it is a site devoted to awesome new science discoveries, science jokes, and geek paraphernalia. Think of it as a rock and roll science site complete with t-shirts, jewelry, and posters. What I think is even cooler is that
A guy in Connecticut was arrested recently after he had a meltdown over a bad haircut. In spite of my current expanding forehead situation, I can totally relate. As a child of the sixties, hair wars comprised much of my life. Exhibit A was my high school. Every day, the dean of boys walked the
Follicular Assault Read More »
I went to hear my favorite poet speak, And was pleased to find that So many had come To hear and be touched by his gentle verse. And yet upon reflection, I wonder if we really heard The message he weaves through words. When it was all over, Fragments of a dozen conversations Drifted to
One of the books that I drew inspiration from during my teacher preparation days was How 2 Gerbils, 20 Goldfish, 200 Games, 2000 Books, and I Taught Them How to Read by Steven Daniels. His first year of teaching in an inner city school was a disaster. But he learned from it and became a
Classroom Critters Read More »
I was four years old, and we lived on the top floor of a fisherman’s house in Cape Cod, Massachusetts. I could see the ocean from my window, and our landlord often brought us fresh seafood. My father, a USAF radar operator, worked lots of seven day weeks and double shifts because of the Cold
The Persistence of Doors Read More »