To be nobody-but-yourself — in a world which is doing its best, night and day, to make you everybody else — means to fight the hardest battle which any human being can fight. — E.E. Cummings. In this time of social media and immense pressure beginning at early childhood, one must struggle night and day simply…
Month: August 2019
The Ever Fonky Lowdown
Tonight I will get the opportunity to listen to Wynton Marsalis and Jazz at Lincoln Center perform “The Ever Fonky Lowdown,” Wynton’s latest composition that critiques the idea of American freedom. The reason I am so excited is twofold. First, Marsalis is an unbelievable talent, and I am here in upstate New York to specifically…
The North Star of Our Native Mortal Compass
This week at the Chautauqua Institution I have plenty of sources for discussion. But let me begin with the words of Maria Popova: “’Under conditions of terror,’ Hannah Arendt wrote in her classic treatise on the normalization of evil, ‘most people will comply but some people will not… No more is required, and no…
Walk Through My Mind With Dirty Feet
I will not let anyone walk through my mind with dirty feet. — Attributed to Mahatma Gandhi. The above is another gem I found in Bonnie Whitehouse’s journal, Afoot and Lighthearted. I can really relate to Gandhi’s thought. Lately I’ve felt bombarded by politics of hate, division, and lack of cooperation. I am a yellow dog, but I…
An Hour With Someone You Love Is Everything
An hour with someone you love is everything. — Tommy Tomlinson, Southbound on WFAE.org. I listened to Tommy Tomlinson the other day interview a very good friend of mine. Tommy is a great interviewer, as well as writer and author. He concluded his show with the above quote while he was talking about spending quality time with his father.…