Consider this...

When my daughter was 5 years old, we had a discussion on power while we were heading to school. This was another chapter in a normal exchange between us, where she would ask me deep question about the world and life in general, and I would do my best explaining to her a view that could be as objective as possible. Sometimes my views were more subjective than objective, depending on the subject that we were talking about. On this particular day, it required a holistic approach, or at least the best that I could give.  The conversation started out with questions related to government. Admittedly, I have slept a few times since then, so I cannot say that I remember the conversation completely. What I do remember was that the conversation took a turn toward what power can do to people. I remember telling my daughter that great old phrase from Uncle Ben: "With great power comes great responsibility." My daughter didn't quite understand it, so I explained it.  I said, ...

There was a video recently posted of a man who went to two rallies wearing a sign that said, "Free Hugs." If you haven't seen it yet on Facebook or YouTube, take a look below: So....why the different responses? What made this happen? Consider this... First of all, I am not saying anything specific about the candidates in this blog post. Well, as much as I can that is. My opinion about the candidates really doesn't matter in the grand scheme of things. You can request it if you are curious in the comments. With that out of the way, let us consider a few things.  The first and probably the most obvious thing to consider is that there are a ton of variables to name here. Variables like location, temperament, time of day, individual belief systems, personal histories, location histories, just to name a few. Keeping this in mind, I don't think you want to read an in depth study that would cover all of the possible social and psychological eleme...

One day a few weeks ago, I woke up in sheer terror. I had experienced what it was like to die. It was one of the most vivid dreams I had ever had in my life. The specific events of the dream apparently were not of grave importance, for I do not remember them as vividly as I do the events of other dreams. However, the feeling that I was left with upon the waking hour was important. I was supposed to learn a lesson here, and I think the message was received. Loud and clear.  Let me do my best to share this with you... In the dream, I lived in a house that looked similar to a childhood home from when I was in the last elementary school that I would ever attend. On the outside, it looked just like my current house (side thought: I wondered if it was maybe a T.A.R.D.I.S. at first since my current home is quite a bit smaller). I had just found out that I was terminally ill, and did not have very long to live. I do not believe that I had shared this with my family as of yet, beca...

Just before Spring Break, I had the chance to teach a subject to kids in my daughter's class. The subject was poetry, and we went over some of the more popular ones that they teach to that grade, or at least was popular when I was in school that is. Being in front of students and helping them learn something new was, for me, an exhilarating experience. Seeing the wheels turn to come up with something new and poetic gave me a sort of high. I left there after spending that time with a smile on my face, realizing that I definitely would have enjoyed doing just that if I was in a position to finish my degree. I bet some of you are scratching your head and asking yourself, “Wait…. What does he mean ‘if I was in a position to finish my degree’?” That is a subject for another time. The point is, I was very happy to do that, and I wanted to do more. Heck, it is part of the reason that I began these blogs. I wanted to get people to learn something new about themselves and the worl...

  I was going to write something else, but this became more warranted given it has been a few weeks… One of the biggest problems that I have is routine. I hate routine. I think that routine is the devil. As a kid I found that it was something that made it easier for my parents to know where I was so that they could make me do the chores that I didn't want to do and that they were fully capable of doing themselves. As I got older, it turned into a feeling of keeping it frosty so that the "Man" could not find you ( naive wasn't I ). Then in young adulthood, I hated routine just simply because I could never know what was going to happen, and I should just go with the flow of the day and let things happen as they may. And as I continue my long journey toward old age, I find that the more and more I am taxed with chores and work and honey-do's and events and appointments that a routine is rearing its ugly head again in my life. Simply put, it is as if I am the da...

"Judge not ye by the depth of their pockets, but by the size of their heart. " This was a thought that came to me out of the blue as I was washing dishes. I was thinking about the selfless acts of an older gentleman today who was out with his family. Without a second thought, he paid for my breakfast, and gave the 3 year old boy who came in with his mom after us a 5 dollar bill. It was awe-inspiring. Why was it awe-inspiring? He was just a nice guy right? Allow me to paint the picture first. You walk into a small diner type restaurant, looking for a breakfast feast. It's a sit-yourself-and-we-will-serve-you type of place, where the Misses walks around and hands out the menus and greets the guests, while the Mister handles business in the kitchen, crafting the orders of the customers as a young but skillful cook would. You scan the joint, taking in all the wonderful smells meant to make you stay hungry, only seeing 4 other people sitting together at the largest o...

I debated starting this blog for quite some time. "What good will this blog do?" "What should this blog contain?" "Will I have the time to blog anything?" "Maybe I should do like everyone else and vlog on YouTube instead of blog." Then I would say, "Maybe tomorrow. When I have more time." But today, I had a thought. What was that thought you ask? Well, that thought was a prayer. A prayer to ask the Big Guy Upstairs to just guide me. If there was a way to create more time, show me. If there was a step that I needed to take toward becoming my own boss, don't let me miss it. If there was a way to be the pebble that drops into the stillness of an ocean on one end, and create a tsunami on the other side, help me see the steps. And that is how this started. Now, let me be clear. First of all, I am no professional blogger, so I expect that this will start off like most things in life and be a little rough around the edges. As...