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Ever since childhood, I’ve always loved reading historical books about the bright ideas that changed the world and the inspirational people who brought them to life.  There’s something magical about studying the history of famous inventions, mistakes that turned into big businesses, and everyday items had surprisingly haphazard beginnings.  But we can’t consume our way to innovation. The only way to ratchet up our species is to create.  And…

Consider the following passage from the bestselling novel about the smartest dog in the world: Lem grew up with the conviction that any success he achieved was merely a precarious toehold on the cliff of life, that he was always in danger of being blown off that cliff by the winds of adversity.  Does any part of that ring true for you?  Certainly does for me. Success, after all, is a…

Mirrors help small spaces breathe.  Often used in restaurants and hotels, they help create the illusion that a room is larger than it really is.  It’s the oldest trick in the decorating book. Especially if for those who live and work in tight quarters. Visual manipulation is the easiest way to fool the human eye. From a hospitality and real estate standpoint, one or two large mirrors can go a…

Many of us have picked a career path where not knowing is the norm.  Every day we sit down to work, there is this countervailing force of grayish uncertainty that is constantly working against us. There is no way to know how or where or when the next customer, the next idea, the next investor or the next project is going to materialize. If at all.  But we show up anyway….

Brown writes in his inventive book about the rise of artificial intelligence that any man can stay sober in a desert, but only the loyal can sit in an oasis and refuse to part their lips.  This is the ultimate test of our level of commitment.  Can we live our cherished life purpose choices, even in the face of crushing temptation to do otherwise? Can we remain true to ourselves, even…

Joyce notoriously wrote that any object, intensely regarded, may be a gate of access to the incorruptible eon of the gods.  His theory was, holiness is location agnostic.  Indeed, it’s a beautiful and accessible scaffolding for our spiritual lives. It means our souls belong everywhere. And that wherever we go, divine love will find us.  And all the people shall say, amen.  But as long as we’re talking about…

Maisel writes in his book about humane helping that sometimes, what people need is a certain kind of silence and special holding of the moment.  The practice is that our heart is harmlessly open and receptive to whatever emerges emotionally and energetically from others.  This approach is useful in a therapeutic setting, but also applies to any interaction in which someone needs our help. The anxious friend, the baffled customer, the…

Nothing is so contagious as energy.  Each of us can start a mini epidemic everywhere we go. It all depends on what kind of vibes we choose to bring to the world.  The reason most people seem friendlier to me all the time is because they actually are. For the past twenty years, my playful and relaxed attitude, accentuated and personified through my nametag, rubs off on people. It…

All insight is already growing inside of us.  It is simply waiting for someone else to give it clarification and validation and permission; and waiting for us to convert it into motivational energy.  But when we have these experiences that so beautifully disrupt our habitual thought patterns, how we actually process those insights is what separates the saints from the aints.  Have you ever met the person who returned…

Have you ever had one of those sweaty, scary, claustrophobic moments when you stared into the void and become paralyzed by the view?  Has the world just pulled the rug out from under you, shattered your sense of reality and informed you that life was actually much more complex, mysterious, larger and beyond your understanding than you thought?  Congratulations. You have experienced what psychologists and philosophers call an existential…