Thoughts on getting things right… I haven’t had a day in the city lately. I’ve been ok with that. I usually relish days spent in my quiet village, far from the noise, the traffic, the barren faces of commuting crowds. I love getting off the train at the end of the ride home and smelling…

Recently, I posted a poll on two social media platforms: “True or false: Beauty is a moral requirement.” Across the two platforms, the average answer was 62% for False, and 38% for True. From DMs relating to the post, the default interpretation seemed to be that beauty meant ‘physical appearance’…

But you don’t have to be… In the film “Braveheart” there’s a moment when the irate king of England rants about the rebellious Scots with the phrase “Sheep! Mere sheep! Easily dispersed if you strike the shepherd!” What happens to sheep without a shepherd? They disperse, they wander, they look for a new herd. …

And why we should stop… I remember watching a video years ago recorded during the civil rights movement in the southern U.S. A black man, tall, well-dressed, with a proud step, was walking down the sidewalk. A group of about fifteen white men were gathered around him. Nothing in the video showed what came before…

The Gender Question, Pt 1. A recent billboard in the UK claimed that “All men are dangerous.” The common responses to this, I would think, would be either to agree and move on, or to be offended and complain. …

We see the world as we are, not as it is — The 25th of January is Burns’ Day, the day when good Scots all over the world celebrate the visionary Scottish poet Robert Burns. …

6 Steps to a meaningful life — I’ve never had a bucket list. I guess I’m kind of odd. When I hear people talk about adventurous things like deep-sea diving or climbing Everest, I’m unsure of the payoff. My aims are generally milder sorts of things. Don’t get me wrong, I haven’t lived an entirely sheltered life…

It’s Better than Seizing the Day… My oldest child just turned twelve last month. I was still pretty young when she was born, young enough to think of myself as a ‘cool’ dad. We were buddies when she was a baby. Before she could talk, I would play guitar and…

As a child, scared in the night, I’d go sleep in my parents’ room. My mom had a long, white night-dress that hung behind the bedroom door. In the darkness, it always looked to me like a skeleton. I have no idea how many nights I lay there afraid of…