Aging is like dying in that, although we understand cognitively that it happens to everyone who lives long enough and that we ourselves are therefore subject to it, our innermost selves believe we’re exempt until its already happening, when its processes and effects start piling up.

Anyone who says (and I have heard people say), “I’m not interested in politics,” just doesn’t understand how our world operates.

This comfort is disquieting….Several times over the course of the day, like every other day, it will occur to me that this lovely status quo is unlikely to hold.

Ideological/political differences separate us within our families, communities, and nation. Division in this country is nothing new, but the chasm that we now face is alarming.

From childhood, I’ve heard about the “soul,” a unique core of selfhood that resides like a jewel in our core, a seed of pure human essence encased by the flesh of our earthly being. I didn’t question that concept for years. Then I did.

I’m not and never have been a birdwatcher. I don’t know one bird from another when I encounter them. And yet I’ve become known among my Facebook friends as a bird enthusiast, the way some folks are known as cat or dog lovers. Here’s why.

For awhile now, I’ve been thinking and writing a lot about belongingness. What does that mean, exactly, and why is it important?

Maybe everything that matters isn’t logical or reasonable.

Despite the emphasis my culture places on labor and economic productivity, even those who don’t “produce” anything tangible still contribute to society.

I guess I expected nothing, really, to change. I figured I’d feel sort of sickish for awhile, and then it’d be over, and all would be normal again. But my experience has been different in some ways from my expectations.

It all begins with an idea.

It all begins with an idea.

It all begins with an idea.

It all begins with an idea.