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Fargo opens with a disclaimer: The movie a true story, that the events depicted in this film actually did take place, and at the request of the survivors, the names have been changed, and out of respect for the dead, the rest has been told exactly as it occurred.  What’s interesting, though, is that once the movie is over, the end credits bear the opposing disclaimer. It states:  All characters…

What I regret most in my life are the failures of discernment.  Situations in which I was too flattered to be suspicious, too passionate to be critical, too poised in a great ballet of expectation and entitlement to be selective, and too focused on my own ego to realize that this exciting new business opportunity was really just another opportunity not to get paid for something.  Yet another cruel hoax dangled before…

Mellin’s groundbreaking research on rewiring the human brain found that long term survival is predicated on our capacity to marshal an effective joy response.  That the chemical ripples of electricity and pleasure that we feel in our bodies when we relentlessly pursue the gentle and nourishing practice of joy are the most effective defense against stress that we have.  And so, our challenge is to organize our lives around…

At some point, everybody in this world gets knocked off the road of happiness, stripped of their myriad opportunities for wonder and discarded into the gutter of suffering.  It’s tragic, but it’s as inevitable as the tides of the sea and the setting of the sun.  And so, the existential responsibility we have as citizens of this planet is to leave other people with joy ringing in their ears,…

We all do what we have to do to keep the peace inside ourselves.  Whether it’s a private ceremony, a magic object, a daily practice, a dopey mantra, a motivational exercise, a weird habit, a bizarre compulsion or an obsessive tendency, there’s no need to judge ourselves.  If that thing supports us in making our lives feel less difficult, if it allows us to carve out our own little…

Once upon a time, our country’s most popular fiction writer suggested that people were hungry for a sight of joy, for a moment’s relief from that gray load of suffering which seems so inexplicable and unnecessary.  More than a half a century later, the insight still holds up.  People still crave the elixir of watching someone genuinely enjoying themselves. People still admire those who wear their joy as the brand on…

The problem with revenge is, it keeps pain and violence in circulation. And from a purely economical scale, it’s not an intelligent use of resources. There are better ways to spend your time and money and energy.  I’m reminded of a great line from an old western novel. The cowboy says:  All that time you’re spending trying to get back what was taken from you, more is going out…

Pope, the legendary eighteenth century satirical poet, was the originator of the saying: To err is human; to forgive, divine.  It’s an oldie, but a goodie. And it will always be a powerful mantra for our daily dealings with others.  But lest we forget, the river flows both ways. We can’t overlook the grudges we hold inside our own heads.  The first beneficiary of forgiveness is always ourselves.  Because…

There’s an obscure but dazzling collection of essays on community building that contains the essential reference guide for creating productive work environments.  Published in the early eighties, experts on the leading edge of organizational change, from academics to civil servants to social workers to third world philanthropists, got together and shared a variety of frameworks for building community holistically.  One of the key takeaways was the distinction between intentional…

I spent my first year of college in the wrong place.  Too big of a party school for my liking. Too much drinking and too many drugs and too many slackers skipping class to play ultimate frisbee in the quad.  But instead of making a concerted effort to connect with new friends, I hibernated in my dorm room. And by the time second semester rolled around, I officially decided…