Note: This has been submitted for the July/August issue of Neighbors of Batavia magazine. Humanity is, I believe, on the cusp of a new era. Depending on the choices we make, the future will be informed by wisdom beyond our dreams, or imbued with ignorance and wanting. Am I alone in feeling that many of …
Note:The following will appear in the January/February Issue of Neighbors of Batavia magazine. For more reasons than I can recount, I chose well the day I proposed to my bride. Not only is she from Hawai’i and “forces” me to visit her immediate family in Honolulu, but she has family in Thailand and Malaysia …
I was a newly-minted MBA moving from an entry-level position to a job selling catalysts in the oil industry. The sales manager, Jim Trecek, arranged for me to spend a week under the tutelage of a renowned salesman in Toronto. His name was Pat McLaughlin. I arrived at the Toronto airport before Pat, and …
If it was that easy, we would all do it, and put an end to much of human misery. The world can be frightening for any of us, but for teens who are struggling to awaken to who they are in the world, it’s especially difficult. Recently, a courageous young man led a conversation with …
Note: I wrote the following for the January, 2012 Batavia Chamber of Commerce Newsletter. “People hate change” is perhaps the most incorrect aphorism ever uttered. People LOVE change. In fact we crave it. On a CT scan, the human brain lights up in the face of it. If you put a human into an …
Note: The following will be published in the January/February issue of Neighbors of Batavia magazine. As 2012 begins, I am aware it is a time during which many reflect on their lives and consider promises to themselves and the world for renewal. We call them New Year’s resolutions. But as I imagine the New …
What appears below was published recently in Neighbors of Batavia magazine. “It must have been a place so dark you couldn’t feel the light, reaching for you through that stormy cloud.” Country Music Group Rascal Flatts In the prior issue of Neighbors (published here on April 12 as “Connections”), I said, “…when a …
It is a common aphorism in Buddhism: When the student is ready, the teacher will appear. But being ready, and recognizing the teacher in your midst, is often difficult—especially when you are blinded by emotion, and it takes humility and forgiveness to restore your sight. Recently, Judi and I attended a week long Hawaiian music …