Today, Thanksgiving Day, should not end before we think about the writers who have changed us. For me, the one who floats to the top this year is Mary Oliver. It’s hard not to say “wow” after reading a poem like “Wild Geese” . You might expect it to … Read More
Month: November 2013
“They could tell it was Jun Do who’d picked which orphans ate first and which were left with watery spoonfuls.”
When Jun Do was a child living in an orphanage in North Korea, one of his responsibilities was to decide which of his peers would be punished. That was just the beginning. As an adult, he was often in the impossible position of trying to let the most innocent suffer … Read More
“I am the rest between two notes . . . in the dark interval, reconciled, they stay there trembling.”
This poem about tension and transition is classic Rainer Marie Rilke. He explored both of these dynamics frequently in a his letters, which were published in a book titled Letters to a Young Poet. (They are among the most famous, best -loved letters in all of literature.) In them, … Read More
“Every behavior has more than one cause.”
Looking for a simple explanation for why some people are introverts and others are extroverts? Then don’t read Susan Cain’s book Quiet. Her explanation has not one, not two, not three, but four factors: our inborn temperament, environment, free will, and how these interact at any given time. She … Read More