Reflections of a Freaking Genius

I don't read many novels because I prefer the sometimes raw reality of non-fiction.  Many people have explained that their love of works of fiction stems from a desire to escape.  I get it.  Being transported to another time, place, or circumstance can do for us what a vacation can do but it doesn't cost as much.  On one occasion I read a period novel.  I'm really not sure what came over me and moved me to the dark side of reading fiction but I did.  I don't recall the name of the book or most of the plot of this novel, but I vividly remember the opening scene of the book. The setting was in the 17or 1800's.  A young woman, perhaps in her 20's or early 30's was sitting alone in a dark sitting room of her home where she lived alone.  She sat in a rocking chair.  It was dark as the sun had long past set.  Electricity didn't service the home therefore, there were no lights.  Of couse she had lamps and candles but none were lit. There was only the glow of th

 M. Scott Peck said in his book, "The Road Less Travelled" - I'll paraphrase from what I'm hoping is still a fairly sharp memory, "Life is difficult.  Until you come to the place where you understand and accept that life is difficult, life will be difficult."  Read it again.  Those are some very good words.  Life outside of Eden is tough.  God told us it would be after we (yes, we) thought we could make wiser decisions on our own without him.  Life on the other side of the flaming, swirling sword guarding the entrance to paradise is chaos, difficulty, de-creation, decay, and ultimately death.  (Spoiler alert: that isn't permanent due to God's love and grace).  No, it's not all bad, but we invited plenty of it into our reality. I've done enough circuits around the sun on this spinning mudball that I've experienced plenty of hard times.  I've lost a parent and a sibling as well as many friends to death, I've experienced lots of heal

  Social media is replete with seemingly unending selfies of people holding up a drink on a white sand beach loaded with statuesque palm trees with the backdrop of a brilliant blue ocean with foamy waves breaking at the edge, or friends in the foreground of a mountaintop vista view with crystal clear lakes surrounded by towering pines far below them, or a family enjoying incredible ancient architecture perfectly preserved in quaint European cities.  The comments section on those posts are full of positive thoughts as friends enjoy the captured moment vicariously, and it seems as if there is always one friend or family member who says, "You're living your best life!"   We'll read about or hear people sharing with us: “Just got a promotion at work! I’m definitely living my best life.” “Spent the day at the beach with friends. Living my best life!” “Finally booked that dream vacation. Can’t wait to start living my best life.” “Started a new hobby and it’s bringing me so

   You've probably heard the expression "life imitates art" or "art imitates life".  The idea apparently originated with Aristotle  who said that art was a reflection, a mirroring, or a copying (mimesis in Greek) of what we see around us.  Picture the easel upon which rests a canvas slathered with different colors of oil from the brush of an artist who is recreating an image of the magnificently beautiful green meadow dotted with flowers which is now the backdrop. He looks at the scene, then carefully makes his brush strokes to recreate what he sees.  Oscar Wilde came along later and said, no, if fact, life imitates art.  And the debate has gone on ever since.  I'm going to steer clear of the debate since we have plenty of issues which seem to further polarize our country. What I want to talk to you about how sometimes, life imitates Oreos. Hang with me, I woke up the other night and the idea was in my head.  No, not the Oreo part, that image came later as a

  For many, what is intended to be a very positive, joyful, and spiritually fulfilling time of year ends up being everything BUT that.  Many times it can be wrapped up in our expectations.  Frequently, we get an idealized picture in our heads of how our holiday experience will turn out. Many times it's because our expectations aren't very realistic. In December I cringe because I know that Hallmark has expanded the number of their channels and they run back-to-back Christmas movies, 24/7 for 25 days at minimum.  It's as if their mission is to force people, if they choose to watch television or streaming services, to watch Hallmark Christmas Movies.  Not once, not twice, but multiple times. The issue I have is, and the reason I cringe is, IF you're going to watch Hallmark Christmas movies, you really only need to watch one of them and you're good for the season.  If you've seen one, almost literally, you've seen every single last one of them.  It's virtua

  What do you want people to see when they look at you or notice when they're around you?  It seems we all present who we want others to see.  We want people to see a confident person, a happy person, funny person, an interesting person, a successful person, an attractive and fit person, a person with wonderful and happy kids, and loving and happy relationships. What do you want potential employers to see when they look at your resume to get you in the door?  It has been reported based on surveys that 70% of Americans have lied on a job resume, on paper.  Interestingly enough, even more, 80% lie during the face to face interview, directly to the potential employers face!  Why?  If HR sees who I really am, they won't hire me! (But they'd be more satisfied with a fraud??)  I saw an article on the job search site 'Indeed' called, "How to Brand Yourself in 9 Simple Steps".  What is branding?  They explain it this way, "Branding refers to the ways in which