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People don’t change, their hearts just open more.  And although each person has their own speed limit, in the end, it’s only a matter of time before the empathy train catches up with them.  Once I turned thirty, I started to find myself more able to appreciate the people and experiences and situations that were part of my life history.  Especially the ones that caused me pain and suffering. …

Whenever I’m standing on the precipice of a new and exciting opportunity, merely imagining possibilities is itself a source of joy for me.  Daydreaming and thinking about the future is a pleasurable experience.  Because I understand that it’s just a thought experiment. There’s no expectation or attachment or entitlement to these daydreams. There’s no chicken counting, banner waving or getting my hopes up.  As a friend mine loves to…

When you’re a headstrong, idiosyncratic, antiauthoritarian artist type, somebody who solely chooses to do things as an expression of their identity, there’s always that gnawing restlessness in the back of your mind. These are the questions that arise.  Are you hiding behind your rebel flag? Is your attitude just a smokescreen for the fear that you can’t handle whatever real life may bring you? And what if not caring…

Online reviews of hotels, restaurants and professional service firms are an invaluable resource for insight into the human condition.  In fact, if you search strategically, you can unearth some interesting interactional patterns, both from positive and negative experiences.  One of the keyword phrases that brought up thousands of entries was: Made me feel stupid for.  This particular query was sparked by a friend of mine who recently fumed about…

Every enterprise has its own form of currency.  Key performance indicators. Metrics of success.  For example, number of clicks, page views, conversion rates, industry awards, channel specific traffic, bounce rate, lead to close ratio, cost per lead, projected return on investment, cost of customer acquisition, customer retention rate, size of gross margin, cash on hand, repeat or renewal business, burn rate, income to expenses ratio, user engagement and number…

There’s a fine line between contentment and complacency.  Both states of mind are rooted is satisfaction and enoughness and feeling pleased with our efforts and achievements.  But from an etymological standpoint, the word complacent differs from the word content insofar as its lack of awareness of some potential danger or defect. Eyes Full of Dreams, was a mixed media project, including a musical album, concert documentary and full color art…

Mitchell’s translation of the ancient texts have guided my personal development for many years.  Taoist principles of balance and perspective and surrender and generosity of spirit have transformed the way I understand the world, interact with other people, and most importantly, speak to myself when I’m going through a difficult time.  One lesson in particular revolves around connection, compassion and inclusion. People are what they are, he writes, and they’ll do…

The problem with playing the comparison game is, most people are liars.  They extrapolate. They make themselves and their businesses and their successes seem bigger than they really are.  And so, their version of happiness is purely speculation. We don’t know the whole story.  Poe famously said people should believe half of what they see and none of what we hear.  But then again, he may never have said…

Each one of us has a thief inside of our heads, threatening to steal away our joy.  And it’s our responsibility to turn our backs on it, starve it of oxygen and let it die on its own.  Otherwise it won’t stop until it sucks us in and drags us down into the darkness. ‘ The problem is, this is an unnatural process for which we have limited tools…

Clooney was right.  It’s a fool who looks for logic in the chambers of the human heart.  Man has the infinite capacity to prioritize feelings above facts.  And so, attempting to blow intellectual holes in somebody’s philosophy is counterproductive. Because their attachment is emotional. They believe what they believe because of a story, not a statistic.  Meanwhile, we’re arguing with them as if facts matter. They don’t. Not to a…