This will be a first for me. Yes, this blog entry will actually be of a somewhat personal nature. Why? I don't know really. I just feel the need to get this off my chest. My wife and two daughters have been gone for a little over two weeks now. They are back in Utah visiting family, especially my sister-in-law who recently had her first child. It was a great opportunity and I am glad they were able to make it back to visit and help out. But I am still stuck here in North Carolina. ...

This article was, in part, inspired by Dharma's comments over here . It has been said that the only constant in the world is change. I couldn't agree more. Every day we have a chance to make choices. Choices that will either move us forward or hold us back. But we can't hold still. The world won't let us. It doesn't take a break from turning, rolling forward, day by day. We either resolve to move forward as well, or we roll backward. The choice is up to each of us, the pow...

I don't pretend to know everything. I don't think I am stupid either, but I admit upfront that there is a lot I don't know. But there are some things I feel pretty confident about, and I have a good eye for noticing when people are self-destructing. I'm sure most of us have seen it, more than a few have been there ourselves, and we know the pain. Impotent. That is how I feel. Completely unable to do anything about it. I don't even know if we can say our teaching goes in one ear a...

I vividly recall the old cliche about getting along with your spouse/partner/sig other. When discussing compromise the classic example is that of the old tube of toothpaste. One person is anal retentive and likes to sqeeze the toothpaste from the end, carefully ensuring that it is empty and the tube is left in a nice, attractive tube shape. The other likes to grab the old tube and squeeze where ever the hand may land. I always thought the example was ridiculous. Then one day it hit m...

Time. As it rolls on it carries many things in its wake. Memories fade, pain eases, hope passes away. Relationships strengthen as time continues its eternal press forward, or they flounder and are lost. And in its constant, relentless advance we may gain some knowledge and understanding. With that understanding comes new insight. In my life (both on and offline) I have met some very interesting people. It is fascinating for me to see how time has changed my perception of those peop...

Group dynamics are a fascinating thing. And while I don't have any formal training in that area I have had a fair amount of leading groups and working with them, as well as a bizarre fascination with observing the manner in which humans interact with each other. In that time I have noticed many phenomena, one of which has been more on my mind as of late. Interesting things happen to people when they get together. No matter the group they are in, once they begin to congregate the beginni...