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!).
“Trust me,” I said as I looked at my wife. She was skeptical, I could tell. “It’s a four-wheel drive car.” I brushed the snowflakes off of my arm as we started up the hill. They had come in when I had rolled down the window to listen to a man who was frantically trying […]
Fillmore Hill as Metaphor Read More »
I was driving down the west end of Fillmore when I heard a loud pop. I watched in horror as the door, which had been securely fastened to the luggage rack on top of my Taurus station wagon, slid off and into the street. I quickly pulled into a parking lot on my right. “Stay
The Persistence of Doors Redux Read More »
I am alive today, and you probably are as well, because of antibiotics, vaccines, and an infrastructure that is unparalleled in history. As a percentage, fewer people die from communicable disease and starvation than at any time in history. And many of those contemporary deaths are due to lack of proper water and sewage treatment.
#namethesciencedeniers Read More »
I was seven years old, walking home from school for the second time that day. School was literally across the street, and Sister Marie sent me home to change my pants again. I had been sitting in my chair practicing my handwriting when the girl behind me screeched because of the urine that was dripping
The Natural Consequences of Unvaccinated Children Read More »
“So are you?” the clerk asked as she looked at my check. “Am I what?” I answered. “A parent,” she said as if I should have known. “Yes, I am,” I replied. “And I have been all of my life.” Inwardly, I sighed. People have been having fun with my surname all of my life.
Apparently, It’s Me Read More »
I lost my chit recently. No, that’s not a typo. Although to be fair, I have seen people lose their shit over losing their chit. And the truth is I didn’t really lose it. It’s just no longer good chit. Who really wants chit that’s no good? For the uninitiated, chits are, in this case,