I’ve got a lot of mixed feelings about Fathers Day. It’s hard to say I’m thankful for my father. When I was a kid, the most positive male role model I had was a fictional character in ridiculous blue tights and a red cape. As I wrote once before, my brother and I didn’t need […]

“Whether ’tis Nobler in the minde to suffer The Slings and Arrowes of outrageous Fortune, Or to take Armes against a Sea of troubles, And by opposing end them?” — Hamlet, Act III, Scene 1 Growing up the middle child in a dysfunctional family gave me two intense compulsions to carry on into adulthood: 1) to always try to […]

There’s a quote from Star Wars: Return of the Jedi that has nagged at me for years. In my 20’s, it was an inspiring quote that brought a lot of energy to me when the chips were down and I was fighting the good fight. After I did a lot of feminist leadership training, I […]

Certain Masonic lodges include a preliminary mini-ritual preceding the initiation of an Entered Apprentice. In it, the candidate is seated at a desk in a small room called a Chamber of Reflection, an allegorical representation of an ancient initiatory cave. He is instructed to solemnly contemplate certain things of importance relating to the degrees which […]

“Life is what happens to you when you’re busy making other plans.” — John Lennon Photographer Bob Gruen remembered John Lennon as a man who could never be exposed in a biography nearly as well as he had exposed himself to the world in life. Lennon was unafraid to be naked and vulnerable to the […]

The hero is always wounded. The hero has always sustained some traumatic damage in their past that ultimately leads to their final victory. In fact, the hero ultimately cannot overcome the final test without their wounding. It’s called the Sacred Wound when heroes heal enough to take strength from what he has learned. They succeed in […]