Parenting

My earliest memory of writing was a report I did on the Berlin Wall. It required many trips to the library, hours of research and pages of notes. Once the prep work was done, I got down to the business of writing the paper. After hours of pain, I finished the assignment.    Looking back, I […]

There is a big downside to getting old. Your muscles and joints ache, you get tired sooner and you may even get some gray hairs. These things will all happen, but age changes something even more important, the imagination.   Using one muscle, we can sit back and imagine lands of fantasy or create products

The competition of life starts at an early age. One of the first arenas we enter is school, where the pressure to be “cool” feels overwhelming.   There is no scoreboard when it comes to popularity, only an unshakeable feeling of being in or out.   If you are on the inside, you protect that

If you want instant gratification, don’t plant a Chinese bamboo seed.   The process begins like any other seed, it needs good soil, sun and water. But after a year of nurturing this little seed you won’t get anything in return.   In year two, it requires the same care and attention. Water, sun and

In 1885 Karl Benz invented the first true automobile. It had many of the same features we see today. It was gasoline powered, used an internal combustion engine and sat on a chassis.   Cars have been around for over 130 years and yet inventors keep making them better.   Today, cars will stop if

I’ve always assumed every year that goes by will be better than the last. All my planning and goals show me an exciting future. I rarely think about things going off course.   I may get lucky and never run into a single rainy day, but I doubt it.   Research shows that people all

We go to school, so we can get an education and graduate with a degree. I never thought much about these concepts. I assumed they were the same thing as learning. Boy was I wrong.   Going to school is something you do. Getting an education or a degree is a milestone. Learning is something

Have you ever found yourself doing one thing but thinking about something else?   This is an all too common occurrence for me. I love to think, plan and experience new things. Each one of these actions by themselves are great. Do them at the same time and you take away from the moment you’re

As humans, we love to be right. On the flip side, we hate to be wrong.   “Eating crow” means humiliation by admitting a mistake after taking a strong position. I guess crow doesn’t take like chicken. I hear it’s foul.   This paints a strong picture of what it feels like to admit being

In 1519, a Spanish Conquistador named Hernán Cortés, landed in the New World. He came from a family of lower nobility. This drove him to make a name for himself thousands of miles away from home.   He arrived on the beaches of Mexico and then did the unthinkable. With 500 men watching he had