Three summers ago, my friend Kevin and I were on a road trip (our 16th together), heading north from Salt Lake City toward Yellowstone. It was a sunny late morning in June and we were taking our time, leisurely winding …
When we truly learn to see, there is beauty in everything
Are mundane objects really art in disguise? Is everything? I found a fascinating video this morning on Aeon, one of my favorite online magazines, which covers everything from psychology to philosophy to art. Memo Akten is a Turkish visual artist …
Tomorrow I get married
And of course, I’m feeling all the feelings: Nervous, excited, blessed, scared, lucky, anxious, overwhelmed, vulnerable, proud, happy. Even a little resentful of losing my freedom. Mostly, though, what I feel is that this is where and when and how …
What have we lost when we’ve lost the night?
Last year, Linda planned a surprise trip for the two of us to Dripping Springs, a small historic town in the heart of Texas Hill Country. The occasion was my 50th birthday, but I chose to ignore the fact that …
How will you spend your solar eclipse?
Don’t let the moment pass you by without asking a few important questions. At 10:45 a.m. that Monday morning, we all stood up from our desks and walked quietly out of the classroom and down the hall to the playground. …
Alaska! Photos from the land of awe
I was blessed to take part with my girls, my fiancé and a number of family members in a week-long cruise to Alaska. We sailed out of Vancouver, British Columbia, and headed up Alaska’s Inside Passage, with stops in Juneau, …
Peak experiences and the life-changing power of awe
Toward the end of his life, American psychologist Abraham Maslow (you’ve probably heard of his hierarchy of needs) recognized something interesting. As he studied the things that allow people to become “self-actualized,” or to reach their fullest potential in life, …
I’m declaring 2017 the year of empathy
Other people suck. I haven’t posted much on the blog lately, but it’s not because I haven’t been writing. I’ve actually been writing a lot, but mostly for an online writing course, which has taken up my creative bandwidth for …
Ask a grackle what time it is
Grackles are my favorite birds. You can keep your peacocks and parrots, robins and roadrunners. I’ll take grackles any day. Sure, they’re kind of ugly. They have an abrasive call. They’re annoying and invasive, and they frighten other birds away. …
I’ve stopped trying to be happy. Now I’m doing this.
True confession time: For a period of about three years, I paid a stranger to listen to my deepest, most embarrassing secrets. Part of the arrangement was that he was supposed to give me useful advice without judging me (though …