The hardest thing in life to learn is which bridge to cross and which to burn. – David Russell – During the Roman Empire, it was common practice for military commanders who were concerned about their armies retreating during intense battle to burn the bridges they crossed in order to block any form of escape. It…Continue reading On Burning Bridges
Tag: relationships
Lessons from the Fockers: The Circle of Trust
“This is the reason I created the circle of trust – so we can discuss these things.” – Jack Byrnes What are your favourite movies? You know, those movies that you’ve watched a hundred times but if someone suggested a night that includes red wine and that movie, you would cancel the meeting with royalty…Continue reading Lessons from the Fockers: The Circle of Trust
The Great Unknown – Guest Post by Mark Conner
A guest post by my life partner, Mark – The Great Unknown: Yesterday was the one-year anniversary of me finishing up 32 years of employment in the one place and stepping out into the great unknown. [See my post from February 2017 called “Time to Say Goodbye” and a poem I wrote in December…Continue reading The Great Unknown – Guest Post by Mark Conner
A Time to Give Thanks
“To be grateful for the good things that happen in our lives is easy, but to be grateful for ALL OUR LIVES – the good as well as the bad, the moments of joy as well as the moments of sorrow, the successes as well as the failures, the rewards as well as the rejections…Continue reading A Time to Give Thanks
The Stories We Tell Ourselves
“It’s like everyone tells a story about themselves inside their own head. Always. All the time. That story makes you what you are. We build ourselves out of that story.” – Patrick Rothfuss – Stories: they shape our world, they change our world, they are our world. We all live our lives to the rhythm…Continue reading The Stories We Tell Ourselves
Acid Rain? Clean Up Your Life
“Whether we and our politicians know it or not, Nature is party to all our deals and decisions, and she has more votes, a longer memory, and a sterner sense of justice than we do.” – Wendell Berry – Just a few weeks ago my partner and I paused on our hike and admired the…Continue reading Acid Rain? Clean Up Your Life
The Avoidance Crisis
“Everything worthwhile in life is won through surmounting the associated negative experience. Any attempt to escape the negative, to avoid it or quash it or silence it, only backfires. The avoidance of suffering is a form of suffering. The avoidance of struggle is a struggle. The denial of failure is a failure. Hiding what is…Continue reading The Avoidance Crisis
Want to Learn about Community? … Listen to the Trees!
“Trees also understand that slowness is the key to a good life. For humans, at the moment, it feels like life is going faster and faster. This way of living uses up so much energy that the quality of our lives doesn’t get better. We should slow down.” – Peter Wohlleben – My father…Continue reading Want to Learn about Community? … Listen to the Trees!
Assumptions: The Noxious Weeds of Relationships
“Your assumptions are your windows on the world. Scrub them off every once in a while, or the light won’t come in.” – Isaac Asimov – The front garden demolition has started. Since moving into this house in November, I have been eyeing the garden beds, overgrown with weeds and noxious plants that have taken the…Continue reading Assumptions: The Noxious Weeds of Relationships
Job, His Friends, and Disappointment
There can be no deep disappointment where there is not deep love. – Martin Luther King, Jr. – The book of Job has always fascinated me. One of the oldest books in the Old Testament and most celebrated pieces of biblical literature, it is dominated by two main characters: Yahweh and a wealthy man called…Continue reading Job, His Friends, and Disappointment