Today caught me off guard. Unexpectedly, it appears that the decades of honing my craft is beginning to look like something to be proud of. As I wrote in Make A Difference, most of the time we never know what good or bad we have done. We hope for good, and prepare to correct the bad. This is a blessing, and undeserved and unexpected gift to refresh a soul that has spent so much time between the hammer and anvil.
Read MoreThe miracle of life is made clear in my work every day, the magic of small moments are magnified a hundred times over.
Read MoreA poem about the importance of hard work.
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The opportunity to teach has been an amazing experience. Consider signing up for a class.
Read MoreI'm honored to be published in Wild Onions of Penn State College of Medicine Department of Humanities.
Read MoreA project in partnership with PHI, I made this video as part of an internal champagne to launch the "destination zero" safety standard.
Read MoreIt's a strange thing, to lose a friend. I've never really lost a friend before. The people who I cared for but drifted apart from were always on good terms, even when we disagree we remain cordial and honest. Those who left on bad terms, and few they are, were people that I wanted to distance myself from. The hard thing for me in this situation is letting go of a friendship I value, but who's preservation is out of my control.
I don't know what can be done. Sometimes people are just not a good fit. Some people are dicks, as others are pussies.... This was the lesson I think I was supposed to learn by the following message and meme, accompanied by a literal middle finger on Facebook. I've never been publicly shamed on social media before, and I have to be honest to say this is pretty benign compared to what's out there. As with my other experiences of disappointing people, what hurts the most is not having an opportunity to fix it. The last time I lost an opportunity to fix a mistake was when my mom died and I couldn't apologize to her. This reminds me of that feeling, but given the context isn't nearly as devastating.
If I had the choice, I would not have allowed such a rift between friends. I wanted to do a good thing, but not all good things make good outcomes. Sometimes life experiences peel back the layers of who we are and who we want to be. I guess I'll have to move forward, sans one friend.
After all the death I have been a part of, and all the beauty and wonder I have seen in this life, maintaining a pulse is not as importing as making an impact with the pulse I have.
Read MoreTrying to solve a problem with someone on the other side of a wall is very difficult, even under the best of circumstances. Imagine instead that both people sat shoulder to shoulder, and dealt with the problem in front of both of them.
Read MoreThis is a fundamental paradigm shift, one I hope to make very clear and brief: If success is measured by excess, then the greater your success, the greater your capacity for generosity is minimized instead of enhanced. How can you have extra if you actively invest it into the people and things that matter to you?
Read MoreDo not confuse strength of body and strength of heart. Your convictions and passions and dreams will not be realized no matter how much you can lift if you can never learn to lift yourself.
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Time is an incredible thing. It is flexible, dynamic, dependable, can heal or degrade and often does both at the same time
Read MoreSo there is this guy; good looking, good paying job, lives in a nice place. Sam seems like he has it all together. The only problem is, he lives with his mother. Darla, a thin and frail looking Irish woman who never came out of her robe and slippers, was supposed to graduate from college. Instead she had a son who, as she puts it, sucked all possibility of accomplishment and success out of her life.
Read MoreMy private time is when no one is around, what I call the "naked in the shower no one else is there" kind of time. It is the sort of time when a person comes to face the reality of themselves. The mask of the day, either a run of mascara that swirls in the drain, or the push up bra that is far out of reach, or that loose skin where muscle should be, all your short comings are all to apparent as you run the soap over your body. Washing away the grime also washes away the mask I put between me and the world
Read MoreThe old standings hold a truth so bold like the tears that follow a song
That no matter the care or how often you're there, you don’t know what you’ve got ‘til it’s gone.
Read MoreJoy, is a choice. No different then who to have coffee with or what to eat for lunch or if the line to the bathroom is worth waiting for. Joy is a beautiful choice. She is a wonderful and charming and lovely companion for the day. She makes hard things fun, challenges turn into opportunity, even good things are better. Joy is a difficult beautiful choice.
Read MoreOn January 25, 2012, I set out on an amazing adventure with 2 old friends and one new one to Haiti in response to the cholera outbreak that took place 2 years and 12 days ago. The journey was long getting there, and their were many unexpected twists in the plans. But one thing I will never forget is how absolutely important human life is, no matter where it is, or where it is from.
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