A former New York costume designer once mentioned the concept of a “moment” to me. In theater costuming, a moment is some contrasting design element that catches the attention of the audience, so they focus on the lead actors, rather than on the supporting ones – think of a character in a red dress among a group dressed in pastels, another character in a shiny silver tuxedo among an ensemble dressed in muted gray. Why is this a moment? Because the attention of the audience pauses temporarily as they survey the scene,......
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On The Wisdom Daily this week (March 16-20), we discovered a shift in traditional rituals, a film about setting your own pace, a musical trigger for useful memories, a family thrilled to win against cancer, a strategy for chronic complaining, a suggestion for reforming racists and a troubling case of injustice in America. Did you grow wiser this week? We hope The Wisdom Daily played a part. The Future of Funerals – Brad Hirschfield How we deal with death says a great deal about how we think about life. No surprise,......
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Have you ever felt in one of those lonely, sad, or just funky moods when a pop song suddenly brought back memories, and evoked a wistful wave of joy? Recently, for me, it was the Grateful Dead’s “Fire on the Mountain” that took me right back to those days of being fearlessly creative in the face of the fire coming at me… And then Southside Johnny’s “We’re Having a Party” had me back a few decades, dancing in carefree, intoxicating love with my then-girlfriend (now wife for 32 years) Dana… We all......
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I have spoken with three friends in the last 36 hours, all of whom lost their moms in the past year, about how they deal with Mother’s Day, and I’ve come to a conclusion about the potential power of celebrating “Day After Mother’s Day,” for those who find themselves in that position. For some who have lost their mom (or for members of the family), it may seem morbid – or a bit uncomfortable, at least – to focus on a departed mother on the holiday of Mother’s Day itself. Why not......
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Baseball season opens this week. Yes, hope springs eternal. We made it through winter even if winter wants to hang on a few more days. It is the start of new careers for players and the opportunity for new beginnings for players who had a bad season last year. What makes baseball so much fun is you never know how the arduous 162 game regular-season and three-tier playoff series system (that can extend the season by up to 19 more games for teams that reach the World Series) will play out. Underdogs......
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How do you move from mourning to memory?? How do you begin to make the shift from acknowledging and honoring the pain of a loss, to building and celebrating the memory of the one who is gone?? These are the questions which all of us who care about Nelson Mandela will need to begin asking and answering in the weeks and months ahead. How we mourn is fundamentally something which comes right from the heart.? Whatever rituals and practices shape our mourning, from ancient to just invented, all work best when they......
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Sometimes we need to let the past be in the past. It’s not always easy – and it’s certainly not always appropriate choice. But sometimes it’s true that forgetting a part of your past is the best way to create a better future. Forgetting can be a remarkable gift – allowing ourselves to forget painful things we regret, resolving to forget the hurtful acts of others. Most of us have moments in our past that we wish were different, and many of us carry those hurts and resentments with us, each new......
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