Philosophy

Risk and the Seasons of Life

Sat, August 11, 2012 No Comments by Neil Hanson

I came across these words from the Dalai Lama recently:

     “Take into account that great love & great achievements involve great risk.”

Which got me to thinkin’ about the whole risk thing. Again.

Simply put, I’ve come to believe that risk aversion is one of the most dangerous things we face in our lives. That’s right – fear and avoidance of risk is extremely dangerous.

Of course, to run headlong and senselessly into the arms of great risk is equally dangerous.

Risk is one side of a scale, balanced on the other side by opportunity. The greatest things in life require an embrace of a great opportunity when it comes along, but that embrace usually holds more than just opportunity – it almost always carries risk as well.

Opportunity and risk are two sides of a scale that nature seems to keep generally balanced. Great opportunity is accompanied by great risk. Small risk usually means small opportunity. Read more »

The Invisible Moose

Sat, July 21, 2012 5 Comments by Neil Hanson

Last week I spent a day doing trail maintenance on the trail up one of Colorado’s many 14ers – Mt. Bierstadt. It was a glorious day spent with some wonderful folks. We hiked up to the spot we were working early in the morning, worked ‘til a little after lunch, then headed back down to the trailhead at the pass.

As we walked up in the morning, I asked the crew chief if she saw many elk in the area – she said she’d never seen elk. Well, we’re above timberline in an area where there are plenty of elk, so I just figured nobody had ever shown her what to look for. I scanned the parks for any groups still visible, but wasn’t able to come up with any.

Then, walking back to the trailhead in the afternoon, I was watching the birds beside the trail to see which ones I could identify, and continuing to look for other animals. As I approached a boggy bottom, I noticed a nice bull moose about 150 yards off the trail, enjoying some time in the water. I looked up ahead along the trail, and saw everyone walking along, heads straight ahead, eyes mostly down.

When I got back to the trailhead, I shared the pictures I’d taken of the moose with some disappointed hikers.

That’s the way we move through life sometimes – head straight ahead, eyes focused on the next step in front of us. Sometimes, this is a great way to move through life. When we’re under pressure, and really need to focus on the task at hand, the last thing we need is distraction.

But what about the rest of the time – all that time we’re moving through life and enjoying it? How much of that time do we spend with our head up, looking around for the adventure and life all around us? I know I’m often guilty of just plodding along as-if life is a drudge, and when I do that, then life starts to feel like a drudge.

But when I make sure my head’s up and I’m watching for glory and beauty and adventure all around me, then lo and behold, I start to see it.

Wouldn’t it be a shame to end up back at the trailhead, when life is winding down, and discover that we missed all the moose and elk along the path?

The more important lesson for me is how much of my time along the trail is spent in situations where I need to keep my eyes on the next step, vs how much of my time I make sure I’ve got the chance to look around and explore. That’s probably one of the best barometers of life quality that I could define.

I need to make sure my life is full of plenty of lookin’ around time, and then make sure I spend it lookin’ around!

If the plural of mouse is mice, and the plural of louse is lice, and the plural of goose is geese, then shouldn’t the plural of moose be mice or meese? Just sayin’…

Commencement… Again…

Fri, May 4, 2012 No Comments by Neil Hanson

In this season of “commencements”, I couldn’t resist linking to this wonderful address delivered by Charles Wheelan — Adapted from “10½ Things No Commencement Speaker Has Ever Said,” by Charles Wheelan. To be published May 7 by W.W. Norton & Co.

A few highlights:

1. Your time in fraternity basements was well spent.

2. Some of your worst days lie ahead.

3. Don’t make the world worse.

4. Marry someone smarter than you are.

9. It’s all borrowed time.

10. Don’t try to be great.


One Seventh New

Tue, May 1, 2012 No Comments by Neil Hanson

I’ve heard many times that every 7 years, our body is completely regenerated. A completely new me every 7 years – every single cell a new one.

Sun setting on the eastern edge of the Flint Hills yesterday

I’m a firm believer that facts should never get in the way of a good story. Whether this “7-year renewal” notion is actually 100% factual or just generally true doesn’t matter – it’s a fun notion that gets ‘ya to thinkin’. (I understand from those who choose to watch political advertising these days that I’m probably not the only one who believes facts shouldn’t cloud a good story…) Read more »

Useful Trade

Mon, April 30, 2012 2 Comments by Neil Hanson

Ours is a useful trade, a worthy calling: with all its lightness and frivolity it has one serious purpose, one aim, one specialty, and it is constant to it – the dividing of shams, the exposure of pretentious falsities, the laughing of stupid superstitions out of existence: and that whoso is by instinct engaged in this sort of warfare is the natural enemy of royalties, nobilities, privileges and all kindred swindles, and the natural friend of human rights and human liberties.

 – Mark Twain

Waxing Moon

Thu, April 26, 2012 2 Comments by Neil Hanson

Image from PaulKozal.com

I’ve enjoyed watching the first sliver of the setting moon this week in the evenings, as first Jupiter, then the Pleiades, then Venus have emerged in the evening sky close to the waxing moon. I enjoyed these words from Chabad.org in my mailbox this morning:

What can we learn from the cycle of the moon, how she ever waxes and wanes and waxes again?

Image from TheAngelsWearFins.Blogspot.com

That a time of smallness is a time to become great;
And a time of greatness is a time to become small.

And greatness endures only through its power to be small.


Confident Ambiguity

Thu, April 19, 2012 1 Comment by Neil Hanson

Yet another in a series of posts on the notion of ambiguity. Last time I talked about the fact that navigating ambiguity is really a matter of maturity of our ability to think critically and solve problems.

As much as anything else, I suppose it’s a confidence thing. When we’re confident in our ability to think critically and gain understanding, we welcome opportunities to use those skills.

On the other hand, when we lack that confidence, we only want to face easy problems. For anything that requires real thinking and independent reasoning, we prefer to have someone tell us what it is we’re supposed to think.

I see it nearly every day in people I talk to. Have any discussion of politics, and you’ll immediately hear people spouting the “party line” and the propaganda from whatever brand of faux news they listen to. Challenge them a little – ask some hard questions – and most folks start to splutter and spit. They don’t feel confident in their ability to arrive at an independent opinion – they need their opinion shaped for them.

We all complain about how polarized our country has become over the past 30 years, with everyone becoming more extreme. In my opinion, that’s 100% a result of the kind of “news” programming people watch on TV or listen to on the radio. They plug themselves into a propaganda machine, and drink the Koolaid. I believe that if we all shut the media off and refused to allow ourselves to be the sheep they want, we’d find that we’re not nearly as polarized as we’re led to believe.

Give it a test drive. For 90 days, refuse to consume any “news” or opinion programming on radio or TV. Refuse to read the OpEd page. Just talk to people, and discuss what’s going on. Talk to people with new and different opinions than your own. After 90 days, I give you a money-back guarantee that you’ll find you are far less in lockstep with whatever brand of propaganda you consumed before.

Disclaimer: All opinions are those of the author. :-)

Navigating Ambiguity

Tue, April 17, 2012 2 Comments by Neil Hanson

Ambiguity.

Every day we’re faced with it. Some of us deal with it well, some not so much.

A friend and I discussed this not long ago, after I started a series of postings on the subject. We both agreed that for most folks, we get better at dealing with ambiguity as we move through life.

Each step along most chosen paths in life presents problems – problems we learn to navigate through improving critical thinking skills. The better our critical thinking skills become, the better we are at moving through problem-solving mazes.

And at the end of the day, ambiguity is generally just one of those problem-solving mazes to navigate.  When things seem gray or fuzzy, it’s generally not for a lack of information – quite the opposite. The more information we have, the more ambiguous a situation can often become. With strong analytical and critical thinking skills, we’re better able to navigate those mazes, and make peace and reason out of ambiguity.

It’s interesting to me to notice all the things about “aging” that are actually an advantage. I wrote recently about the art of aging finely, and I’m often surprised to find just how many things in life we get better at as we move along the timeline. Maybe all of us don’t get better, but we certainly have the opportunity to get better. Some just seize the opportunity better than others do.

Seize this one – look for those little moments of ambiguity that surround you, and explore them honestly.

Don’t Touch the Pastries

Thu, March 8, 2012 2 Comments by Neil Hanson

Peggy and I watched a young family with amusement the other day. The dad sat the girl down in a chair at our local Panera, with a plate of pastries in the middle of the table. He sternly admonished her, “Don’t touch anything on that plate yet.” He made sure she said yes, that she understood. Then dad went back to the counter, to help mom with the rest of the order.

He was only gone for a couple minutes, and the little girl never took her eyes off those delicious looking pastries. There was real longing in her eyes. After 10 or 15 seconds, she slowly reached her hands toward the plate that held the pastries, touched the edge of the plate with her fingertips, and quickly Read more »

The Depravity of Perfectionism

Thu, February 23, 2012 3 Comments by Neil Hanson

The Perfectionism Demon – Part 3

Image from National Geographic

I’ve been writing about the perfectionism demon this week, and how counterproductive he (or she) is for most of us. I imagine many folks who imbibe in the creative process are haunted by this demon, and I suspect they only succeed when they find ways to trick, evade, or outrun the nasty fellow. Destroying him would be true joy, but I’m just not sure that’s possible once he’s dug his claws deeply into the way we live our life.

The demon plagues some folks with the inability to even start a project, for fear they won’t do well enough. I have a writing colleague like that, who struggles to move ideas from his mind to the keyboard for fear they won’t be good enough.

In my case, I’ve got enough dominance over the demon to start the creative process, but deeming a finished product “worthy” to be released to the world is a chain I’ve yet to wrap consistently around the beast. I can sit down to the keyboard and write, but I rarely think I’ve written something that’s “good enough”. Read more »

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Perfectionism and Creativity

Wed, February 22, 2012 2 Comments by Neil Hanson

The Perfectionism Demon. Part 2

I talked in my last post about how the the demon of perfectionism can cripple everyday things like planning. The demon is far more vicious and unforgiving when it comes to the creative process.

I like to write. It’s a creative process for me. When I write, I’m releasing something from within myself for the rest of the world to read. Is it good enough? Does it really say what I want to say? Will I sound foolish? Read more »

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The Perfectionist Demon – Finding Good Enough

Tue, February 21, 2012 2 Comments by Neil Hanson

It’s approaching burning season in the Flint Hills of Kansas and elsewhere on the Great Plains, a time when gigantic prairie fires consume thousands of square miles. The fires are set intentionally, when conditions are perfect to allow controlled burning, usually at night.

Image compliments of Larry Schwarm

It’s a beautiful sight, if you can find a safe promontory from which to watch. Large swaths of flames washing across the plains, consuming everything in their path. Destructive, yet essential for the future of that sea of grass to survive and thrive.

There’s a lot in life that can be like the prairie fire. Things that consume wantonly, or cause great pain, but if controlled, can be a crucible from which new life springs. Read more »

Joel and the Giving Tree

Mon, February 20, 2012 1 Comment by Neil Hanson

We all like to think of ourselves as generous and giving – I know I do. And I suppose we are, each in our own way.

The old Shel Silverstein book – “The Giving Tree” – was a favorite of one of my children. We always read at least a couple books at bedtime each night, and I’ll bet more than half the nights for many years included “The Giving Tree”.

In many ways, the book never made sense to me. It talked about a tree that seemed to exist only to give. Even when the result of the giving was misused or misunderstood, or the gift was poorly used. The tree just kept giving.

I suppose it didn’t make sense to me because the act of giving, at it’s most extreme level, makes no sense. Read more »

Christmas Tree Spiders

Thu, December 29, 2011 3 Comments by Neil Hanson

In response to Robert Sheldon’s “Christmas Tree Dilemma” article last week, a friend wrote in with a great story from their Christmas this year. Seems the whole “picking of the perfect tree” tradition is alive and well in her family as well, though this year it came with a surprising twist.

Christmas Morning Sunrise in the Mountains

After finding the World’s Most Perfect Christmas Tree, she and her family set the tree up in the living room and proceeded to celebrate a wonderful holiday around a most perfect tree. All went to bed on Christmas night with smiles on their faces, wonder in their heart, and warm feasts settled nicely in their belly. Little did they know that somewhere in the warmth of their tree lay the egg sack a spider left there last fall, lulled by the indoor glow into the illusion that it was time now for tiny little spiders to think about bursting forth into the world. Read more »

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Beauty the Audrey Way

Wed, December 21, 2011 2 Comments by Neil Hanson

Below is a poem Audrey Hepburn wrote when asked to share her ‘beauty tips.

  • For attractive lips, speak words of kindness.
  •  For lovely eyes, seek out the good in people.
  •  For a slim figure, share your food with the hungry.
  •  For beautiful hair, let a child run his/her fingers through it once a day.
  •  For poise, walk with the knowledge that you never walk alone.
  •  People, even more than things, have to be restored, renewed, revived, reclaimed, and redeemed; never throw out anyone.
  •  Remember, if you ever need a helping hand, you will find one at the end of each of your arms.
  •  As you grow older, you will discover that you have two hands; one for helping yourself, and the other for helping others.
 
Thanks to Stephanie for sharing.
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The Haughty Activist

Thu, December 8, 2011 1 Comment by Neil Hanson

There’s lots of “occupying” going on recently. I applaud those who actively exercise their First Amendment rights. I’m not sure if I agree with 100% of their position on things, mostly because I’m not completely sure of what that position is. The essence seems to be that they’re opposed to the massive redistribution of wealth that our government has been supporting over the last 30 years, as a bigger and bigger portion of the wealth of our nation rests in the hands of a smaller and smaller percentage of people. The 1%.

I get that, and I agree that this isn’t a good thing. I can’t reconcile it with my spiritual beliefs or my moral principles. As a purely practical matter, such lopsided distribution of wealth always leads to upheaval.

I listened to someone trashing the “occupiers” the other day. I never could figure out what it was that they didn’t agree with, but they sure didn’t like the protesters. When I thought about this person’s comments, it really seemed to boil down to the fact that they didn’t like the “sort of person” who would be an activist for a good cause like this. They didn’t seem to like the “do-gooder”. He used the term “bleeding heart” several times – there’s an oldie but goodie!

Which reminded me of something I read once about a comment made by the great Lubavitcher Rebbe – Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson. A young man had apparently told the Rebbe that he had decided to avoid social activism because it had been feeding his ego. A bleeding heart.

The Rebbe replied: “And without the activism there is no ego? Better a haughty activist than a self-centered do-nothing!”

Go occupiers!

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The Broom and the Blower

Tue, December 6, 2011 No Comments by Neil Hanson

I was sweeping the garage the other day. I do it often this time of year, as the tiny leaves from the locust tree in front find it easy to drift in with the cars.

It’s an old fashioned “flat broom” I use, and the sound it makes as it brushes the smooth concrete floor of the garage is sweet and soothing. It’s a sound that feels like it’s at home with the house finches on the feeders out front, and the soft wind that eases through the standing grasses in the front garden.

There’s a comforting rhythm that comes with the task of sweeping. The easy brushing, side to side, left to right. It’s a rhythm I can easily become lost in, and often do. Usually, when I finish sweeping the garage, I keep on sweeping right down the driveway – in part to move the leaves further away from the garage, but also because I’m enjoying the sound and the rhythm, and don’t want it to end.

Read more »

Mirrors and Windows

Thu, December 1, 2011 No Comments by Neil Hanson

Image from CyleOdonnell.com

 

Most people are mirrors, reflecting the moods and emotions of the times; few are windows, bringing light to bear on the dark corners where troubles fester. The whole purpose of education is to turn mirrors into windows.

~ Sydney J. Harris, journalist and author (1917-1986)

(Compliments of Miss Peggy)

Feathers

Tue, November 29, 2011 No Comments by Neil Hanson

FEATHERS

Image from IWishICouldFly.com, Alan Stankavitz

Everything that lives wants to fly,
a Mohawk friend said to me one winter afternoon
as we watched grosbeaks take seeds,
fluttering close to our eyes.

Those were dinosaurs once, he said,
but they made a bargain.
they gave up that power
in return for the Sky.

Joseph Bruchac
(Thanks to Miss Peggy for the contribution)

A Candle in the Wind – Part 3

Thu, November 17, 2011 No Comments by Neil Hanson

At it’s heart, the words and the imagery are so true. We often feel so important and permanent – as though much of the universe revolves around our giant ego. But really, each of us is no more than a flame burning atop to candle of our life.

This isn’t a bad thing. Well, I suppose it’s bad for our ego. But ignoring the ego for a minute, (and we know how that ego hates to be ignored…), it’s really a good way for me to see my life. Just a flame atop a candle.  Read more »

Wind in the Hackberry

Tue, November 15, 2011 No Comments by Neil Hanson

The wind blew pretty hard a couple days ago as I sat in my treestand. The gentle rocking of the tree in the wind gave me a sense of security.

It’s not a particularly old tree – probably 30 or 40 years old would be my guess. In those years sitting on the edge of the Kansas prairie, it’s seen wind far greater than anything I’d want to sit through. It’s bent and swayed in the fury of winter blizzards and summer thunderstorms.

Though the wind felt big and strong the other evening, it was nothing compared to what my tree had seen in its lifetime, and knowing this made me feel particularly secure. As the tree swayed back and forth, creaking and groaning occasionally, I knew this flexibility was what made it strong. Rather than spending all it’s energy fighting the wind, it learned to use the wind to stretch and build a pliable strength. Roll with the breeze, bend with its fury.

It wasn’t a particularly good evening for hunting, as the wind made it unlikely I’d take many shots – the wind would make the flight of the arrow too unpredictable. But the gentle rocking ride was worth the time spent waiting for the wind to subside.

Eventually, it did indeed subside, and I watched the cover of a full-moon night slip over the quiet prairie in front of me, and the woods behind me. A doe came out and spent a little time in the meadow as darkness grew. A possum made his way noisily through the underbrush, and a couple raccoons squabbled briefly but loudly over some territory nearby. The songbirds tucked away one by one, and a beautiful sunset unfolded over my shoulder.

There was still enough breeze to carry the smell of a newly lit fire in a wood-stove somewhere upwind from me, as somebody settled in to enjoy a room warmed by a fire. It was past shooting light, but I was in no hurry to climb down out of my tree. I felt particularly good, and the bright full moon would light my walk back home.

Life was, indeed, quite good.

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A Candle in the Wind – Part 2

Mon, November 14, 2011 No Comments by Neil Hanson

Part 2 – Fragility

It’s mid-November, a time when I disappear into the woods for a while each year. First for several days on the western slope of the Rockies hunting elk with my son, then into the Kansas prairie for a couple weeks of hunting whitetail deer where the prairie and the timber meet.

Read more »

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A Candle In The Wind – Part 1

Tue, November 1, 2011 No Comments by Neil Hanson

Part 1 – Risking

I was reading a book the other day, when this phrase struck me: “Life is like a candle in the wind”. Of course, it’s hard to say those words in my mind without hearing Elton John’s voice in the background. Nevertheless, the words stuck with me for several days, and have had the little brain cells scurrying around quite a bit.

Image from eraspark.com

Every step of every day, we’re surrounded by creation and destruction, birthing and dying. As I type these words, the last of the leaves have fallen from most of the trees here in Colorado – some of them wrenched off in the snowstorm we had last week. The air is full of that wonderful smell that autumn surrounds us with, as the high plains tuck themselves in for the winter.

A couple weeks ago, the birds were tearing through the seed in my feeders at a voracious rate, as those migrating south use my place as a fueling station. Some of those birds will make it, some won’t. Just yesterday there was a Goldfinch on the ground below the feeders. He seemed too exhausted to fly. When I went to him to try and lift him to the feeder so he could rest there and eat, he scurried beneath some Hyssop. I want to believe he’ll make it, but he might not.

Several weeks ago, when my brother and I were driving some back roads in Kansas, we came across a group of trees draped in butterflies – there must have been tens of thousands of them. I imagine they gather on the trees and rest until the right wind comes up, then they probably get up into the wind and let it blow them south. On the ground was the evidence that not all the butterflied would make it – the same wind that took their comrades south to safety would take the flame of life from a few.

We’re surrounded by flames of life. Each of us is just one of those flames. We like to think of ourselves as particularly special – flames that are more important that the millions of other flames around us.

But to be special, don’t we need to let the flame of our life burn openly and brightly, where it adds encouragement to those around us? And in doing so, we expose it to the wind that could blow it out in an instant. It’s the paradox of the Flame of Life – it’s meant to burn openly and brightly, which means it’s always at risk.

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Helping 106 – The First Step

Mon, October 31, 2011 No Comments by Robert Shelden

Overcoming The Fear Of The First Step
By Robert Shelden

We’ve published a series of posts about “Helping” in the past, and Robert’s discussion of CYAR (Colorado Youth At Risk) is a great addition to that series. Welcome to the forum Robert, and thanks for the contribution!

A number of years ago, I was exposed to a non-profit, youth mentoring organization called CYAR (Colorado Youth at Risk).  CYAR focuses on transforming the lives of teenage students through community -based mentoring and intensive training.   Like many people, I had a desire to “give back” to my community in some meaningful way and CYAR appeared to match my social values. Read more »

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Failure’s Creative Juice

Thu, October 27, 2011 No Comments by Neil Hanson

A niece recently posted something on Facebook that made it clear that she felt some failure in her life. I have no idea what the issue was – I haven’t really gotten into the commenting part of Facebook yet – I’m mostly a lurker. (I think that’s what they call us…) I suspect it was something small, like a grade on a test that was lower than she wanted, something like that.

The issue isn’t really important anyway – the important thing is the failure, and the need to celebrate it.

Sounds odd, I know, in this culture where we’ve tried so hard to make everything about winning at all costs, and measuring people by their perceived “successes”. But I really believe in failure as one of the most important components of a truly successful life. Surviving failure well and finding the creative power therein is a critical skill in moving “forward” in life. Read more »

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Find That Life

Tue, October 25, 2011 No Comments by Neil Hanson

Last week I did a post (and an email for those on my email list) titled “Live Well”, juxtaposing the notion of living long with the notion of living well. A friend sent me the following quote during the week, which relates well to the post:

“We have defined holiness through what we separate ourselves from rather than what we give ourselves to.
I am convinced that the great tragedy is not the sins we commit but the life that we fail to live”. 
  ~ Erwin Raphael McManus from Chasing Daylight

As I write this post, it’s Sunday morning, and all over the western world, folks are preparing to go to church and worship. Well, at least the 20% of Americans who actually attend church on an average Sunday morning. (Note that the number is far less in other western countries.)

But what is “worship”, and is that what’s happening in churches across the country? I was raised as a Lutheran, whose family fell away from church when I was fairly young. In my 20’s, I reconnected with church, and we were extremely active in our church for 15 or 20 years. I rarely attend a church today, and it’s precisely because of that question I raise at the beginning of this paragraph – what’s really happening in most churches? Read more »

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Sukkoth

Tue, October 18, 2011 No Comments by Neil Hanson

As I write this post, the Jewish calendar is bringing a little known but intriguing holiday to a close. After the High Holidays have passed each year, the holiday of “Sukkoth” requires the faithful to move from the comfort of their homes into temporary “huts” constructed on porches, backyards, and driveways. I’m sure there are many dimensions to this holiday, but the aspect I’m fascinated by just now is the shift of focus from materialism and greed as the center of our lives over to a focus on spirituality as the center of our life.

There are traditions within many religions that draw the worshipper into a time of asceticism, though in our comfortable and pampered life we like to ignore these traditions whenever we can. It’s just so much bother, you know, and really, isn’t it much more efficient and enjoyable to just do the fun traditions?

Sukkoth doesn’t seem to be about asceticism just for the sake of sacrifice. Rather, I get the strong and consistent message that it’s more about separating myself from the vast material comforts that I enjoy, in order to bring my focus back to my “place” here on earth, and how my actions and my life impact Creation as a whole. Like the short moment of prayer many families share as they sit down to a meal, letting us take a breath and truly appreciate the gifts and bounty we’ve been given.

Focus. As a hunter and a birder, I use binoculars (or field glasses) a lot. When using them, it’s important to move them to your eyes, then away from your eyes. Back and forth, seeing the big picture, then zooming in on detail. So long as my eyes are seeing the world through the glasses, they don’t have the ability to see the big picture.

Day to day, we’re so focused on “bringing home the bacon”, or “getting ahead at the office”, or even on watching the football games or “face-booking”, that we fail to see the big picture. We walk through life with the binoculars against our eyes. (Try that sometime, by the way, and see how quickly you stumble and fall…)

During Sukkoth, we take the binoculars away from our face, and see the world around us. We see our place in the world, and spend a little time understanding how our actions impact those around us. In our “me-oriented” culture of selfishness, we like to focus a lot more on “rights” than on “responsibilities”. We like to think we can do whatever we want within the law – that this is our “right”.

Reminds me of this old story, “A man in a boat begins to bore a hole under his seat. The other passengers in the boat with him protest. ‘What concern is it of yours?’ he responds, ‘I’m making a hole under my seat, not yours.’”

We’ve undergone a radical and dangerous transformation in our culture in recent years, resulting in a consumer-based economy that puts more value on “cheap” than it does on “right” or “good”. Our homes and driveways are filled with the results of this destructive transformation. Of the 100 largest economies in the world, over half of them are large corporations – less than half are actual nations. My vote as a consumer might matter more in the world today than my vote as a citizen of a nation. How wisely do I vote?

While I’m not Jewish, I think I can learn a good deal from this holiday. I’ve never taken the time to see a relationship between Yom Kippur and Sukkot in the past, but I see it this year. My need for atonement reaches deep across the world I live in and my place in that world. Creation, atonement, and my place in the picture.

A week spent eating and sleeping in a cardboard hut might do me good.

This year, as I spend my time living a simple and sparse life in the woods while I hunt, I’ll think a lot about Sukkot. The time is always a very spiritual time for me, but this new understanding opens a path for even greater reflection and meaning.

And I’ll be sure and take the binoculars away from my face when I want to walk…

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Live Well

Mon, October 17, 2011 1 Comment by Neil Hanson

I was chatting with a health nut the other day – someone extremely fastidious about what he eats. I greatly respect the super healthy habits that he’s developed, and learn from him every time we talk about how to eat more wisely.

This particular conversation was unusually enlightening. Charlie, (that might be the fella’s name), for some reason veered off into a discussion of why he’s developed such healthy eating habits. Turns out he’s developed these great habits because he wants to live a long time, and wants to do all he can to ensure a peaceful death.

Hmmm. I’m not sure about the “peaceful death process” part of the equation. Seems like no matter how healthy our living is, our death is almost a crapshoot. Maybe it’ll be a peaceful and gentle process, but maybe not.

But the other part of the equation really intrigued me. I like to stay healthy as well, but the conversation really brought my motivation into focus for me. While Charlie focuses on a long life, I tend to focus on a full life. Sure, it’ll be fun if it lasts a good long time as well, but what I really care about is that I maximize whatever minutes, hours, days, and years life still has in front of me.

While Charlie will pass when the cake or pie comes around, I rarely do. And every now and then, I truly cherish a good chicken-fried steak and mashed potatoes slathered with gravy. Of course, I can’t eat like that all the time, and need to work hard to make sure I’m burning the calories I’m taking in. Eating chicken-fried steak all the time would diminish the relish of it when I do get it, and I’ve learned I can’t possibly burn enough calories to eat like that very often.

But now and then…

Image from Natalie's Killer Cuisine - natalieskillercuisine.com

It’s a balance for me. There are things I enjoy that aren’t healthy – like chicken-fried steak. There are also things I enjoy that require really good health – like cycling. I need to strike a balance that lets me pack the most joy and adventure and bliss and contentment into my life as possible. Sometimes the wonders I want to pack into my life conflict with one another, and I need to find a way to make them all stay in balance.

It’s all about how much I can pack into life, not about how long I can make life last. In the end, death is the only way out, and maybe it’ll be gentle or maybe not. I’m reminded of a story Garrison Keillor tells, about how he wants to die peacefully in his sleep like his grandfather did, not screaming in terror like the other people in the car he was driving as it flew off the cliff…

Live well.

“When it comes time to die, be not like those whose hearts are filled with the fear of death, so when their time comes they weep and pray for a little more time to live their lives over again in a different way. Sing your death song, and die like a hero going home.” 

  ~ Tecumseh


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Playing Catch

Thu, October 13, 2011 No Comments by Neil Hanson

I was fishing with my brother a week or so ago. We’ve developed a habit of bringing our baseball gloves when we go on fishing trips, and finding a little time to play catch in the afternoons. As much as I always enjoy the fishing, I’ve got to say I enjoy those brief moments of playing catch just as much.

My baseball glove is a leftover from 40+ years ago. Back then, I saved up for quite a while to buy such a nice glove, and carefully oiled it and broke it in through thousands of balls thrown and caught. I’ve oiled it now and again through the years, so it’s still serviceable today. I’ve always kept a baseball tucked perfectly into the pocket of the glove, to assure that it stays molded with the memory of the thing it’s meant to wrap itself around.

Through all the moves and changes in my life, that glove has somehow stayed tucked away in my drawer. It’s survived the many bouts of “cleansing”, where I give away or throw away everything I’m not using at the time.

It slips so naturally onto my left hand, and feels so “right” when it’s there. The ball falls from it into my right hand. I feel the laces touch my fingers just right as I’m rocking back onto my right foot and my right arm falls away behind me. My right arm and shoulder roll easily into an arc above my head and my wrist snaps lightly, I release the ball, and watch as it goes to the exact spot my mind’s eye was seeing.

My glove folds around the ball as it returns to me, snapping with a sweet “pop”. As the ball hits my glove, I’m already rocking gently through the motion of sending the ball back to my brother.

Back and forth my feet take me through the familiar motion, my arm arcing and releasing, my glove popping. A familiar rhythm that became part of the fabric of my being during a time when my heart and mind and soul were learning to become the rhythm that is life. Just as the glove has maintained the memory of the baseball it’s meant to  hold, my body has maintained a memory of that easy rhythm of the game.

Letting my body fall into that familiar memory does something to my heart and soul too. The gentle rhythm of activity that feels “ancient” to our muscles releases our mind, heart, and soul to fall back deeply into ourselves. A bit of a “renewal” I suppose, like drinking from an ancient and well-guarded spring of water so sweet it never leaves our memory. Read more »

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The Verb of God

Tue, October 11, 2011 No Comments by Neil Hanson

I read a really interesting book once, titled “God is a Verb”, by David Cooper. The book was thought-provoking, and I learned a good deal from it. It’s the title, though, that’s hung with me, and what my mind makes of the title. I got to thinking back on this title while I was writing this recent article on career paths. (Or is it careen?)

Though not an expert, I see a noun as a thing, and a verb as an action. Neil’s oversimplified view of the world…

The thing that really intrigued me at the time about the concept of seeing G-d as a verb was how universal the concept was, if we could get our heads around it.

Throughout history, religion is right up there on top of the list of things we make war over and hurt people over. Sad but true. Often, this happens because we allow religion to become so entwined with government that religion becomes nothing more than a tool of oppression used by the government. The dark years of The Inquisition and the religious wars in Europe were relatively recent memories when we were smart enough to demand a separation between religion and government when we put our constitution together.

Think back to the holy wars that have been waged throughout history. The sort of “jihad” where religious zealots kill lots of people because they think God wants them to. It’s happening in the world today, and you can see it throughout both recorded history and recorded myth.

G-d wants you to kill people. Really? Don’t most of us find this a little difficult to reconcile? For those who do believe in G-d in some way or anot

her, our deepest understanding of the concept and reality of G-d revolts at the notion that He/She/It would demand evil and killing. For those who don’t believe anything like god exists, such notions simply reinforce our inability to see the possibility.

I suspect much of this difficulty happens because our brains (today and historically) want to turn G-d into a thing (a noun), like a king or a dictator. What would happen if instead, we saw G-d as the verb – the action in the equation? After all, great spiritual teachers of all traditions have taught that G-d is in each of us. So long as we think of G-d as a thing, then this sounds a lot like we’re “possessed”, but if G-d is action, then this makes a lot more sense, doesn’t it?

If we saw G-d as a verb, as the action that can come from us, we might spend a little less time worrying about whether he/she/it is male or female, or has dark curly hair or long blond hair. We might worry less about what “orders” we receive from whoever happens to be claiming to be the voice of G-d at this particular time, and start focusing more on how we can release G-d into the world around us through our actions.

Happy God-ing!

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