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Mile Markers of Growth & Change

Our little family spent last week away at the Oregon Coast. If you’ve never been there, especially during the early months of the year, it’s a rugged/cold/beautiful/rustic/often solitary place that lends itself to reflection and renewal. At times you could walk for miles without seeing anyone (and possibly seeing some deer) on the beach. My wife and I wandered on the beach, dodging flotsam and...

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Memory Monday: Prompts to Develop Our Life Story

I’ve spent the last few months slowly compiling the documents, memorabilia and thoughts that comprise my life to date — and one of the key lessons I’ve learned is the punchline to the joke: “How do you eat an elephant?” “One bite at a time.” Our personal histories are the same. When you start to take elements of your life and examine them — and describe them...

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WE are the Cloud: The Best Way to Preserve Your Memories Forever

Lately I’ve noticed and read a few articles about the danger of the digital life — the fact that so much of our lives is stored on random servers or auto-deleting email Inboxes. This recent NPR article about a “digital will” comes to mind. Similarly, this Wall Street Journal article makes the case for an “analog” life and how sometimes what’s digital isn’t...

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Remembering a Life Well Lived

I had the unfortunate privilege Saturday of attending the life celebration of the father of a dear friend. The nature of his life wasn’t particularly extravagant or exciting; he had a career in health care for about 30 years, and lived in the same modest but very nice home as long as I knew him. His Midwest background, love of baseball, and joy in his children and grandchildren made him, to me,...

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Green Bananas in Your Garage: Why Now is the Time To Sell Your Old Books

A few years ago, I was talking to an older colleague to see how he was doing — he had experienced some health problems in the last few years. His response was: “Well, let’s just say I don’t buy green bananas anymore.” The man had a great, if somewhat dark, sense of humor. I’ve since thought about “green bananas” in a lot of different contexts. It comes to...