Archive for October 6, 2017

As the saying goes, it’s easy to be a “Monday morning quarterback.” Thus, I begin this piece with a shout out to Netflix and the producers of “13 Reasons Why,” a series that tackles the epidemic and tragedy that is youth suicide. If nothing else, it has sparked a spirited national conversation that is, frankly,…

It seems counterintuitive: Sadness in the spring as flowers bloom and temperatures rise. Yet, paradoxically, the time of year many yearn for can come attached to some serious psychopathology. For years, conjecture about this conundrum centered around raised and then dashed expectations. I mean, after all, what could be better than the return of sun and sand?…

New York Times columnist David Brooks, in his April 18th piece “How to Leave a Mark on People,” points to employment at  a Connecticut summer camp (Incarnation) as an analog for what University of Virginia researchers James Davidson Hunter and Ryan Olson refer to as “thick” (vs. “thin”) moral frameworks or cultures (IASC, 2017). What’s the difference? According…

This month marks seven years since a nearly life-ending event. Heretofore, I have neither written about that experience nor, frankly, spent much time analyzing its import. Was it a game changer? I honestly don’t know. Nevertheless, my decision not to write about being diagnosed with a big (think “large orange”) brain tumor in July of 2010 changed…

Writer Caleb Daniloff’s book, Running Ransom Road – Confronting the Past, One Marathon at a Time, presents as a force field of positive energy aimed at beating addiction. In his case, mostly to alcohol. But it is also something more. It is about asking essential questions on your choices in life, and answering them. It is…