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Posts tagged with “wisdom”

The Strength I Found Hidden in Softness

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“You can’t heal what you won’t allow yourself to feel.” ~Unknown

I used to act strong all the time. On the outside, I looked like I had it all together. I was competent, composed, and capable. I was the one other people came to for advice or support.

The stickiness was that my version of strength created distance. I couldn’t allow myself to appear weak because I was terrified that if I let myself break down, I wouldn’t be able to pull myself back together.

Maybe underneath it all, I was so fragile I might actually break.

So I held …

Note to Self

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Micro-Faith, Huge Benefits: Reasons to Believe in Something Bigger

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“Faith is taking the first step even when you don’t see the whole staircase.” ~Martin Luther King Jr.

My grandmother passed away a few years ago after a long battle with cancer. Even as her health deteriorated, she never lost her spirit. She’d still get excited about whether the Pittsburgh Steelers might finally have a decent season after Ben Roethlisberger’s retirement. She’d debate the Pirates’ chances with the kind of passionate optimism that only comes from decades of loyal disappointment.

But what I remember most are the afternoons she’d spend napping in her favorite chair with my son curled up …

Sit with It

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Remembering What Truly Matters in a World Chasing Success

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“Strive not to be a success, but rather to be of value.” ~Albert Einstein, adapted

I often feel like I was born into the wrong story.

I grew up in a time when success meant something quieter. My father was a public school music teacher. We didn’t have much, but there was a dignity in how he carried himself. He believed in doing good work—not for recognition or wealth, but because it mattered.

That belief shaped me. I became a teacher, filmmaker, and musician. And for decades, I’ve followed a similar path: one rooted in meaning, not money.…

To Empathize with Someone’s Experience

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People Who Feel Good About Themselves

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From Loss to Hope: How I Found Joy Again

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“Although the world is full of suffering, it is also full of the overcoming of it.” ~Helen Keller

The phone call arrived like a silent explosion, shattering the ordinary hum of a Tuesday morning. My uncle was gone, suddenly, unexpectedly. Just a few months later, before the raw edges of that loss could even begin to soften, my mom followed. Her passing felt like a cruel echo, ripping open wounds that had barely begun to form scabs.

I remember those months as a blur of black clothes, hushed voices, and an aching emptiness that permeated every corner of my life. …

Surrounded by Good People

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Coming Out at 50: Love, Loss, and Living My Truth

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“The privilege of a lifetime is to become who you truly are.” ~Carl Jung

We all had a wild ride during the pandemic, am I right? Mine included falling in love with a woman. At fifty years old.

That’s not something I expected. But isn’t that how life goes?

One day you’re baking sourdough and trying not to touch your face, and the next you’re coming out to the world and losing half your family in the process.

I’d been single for over two decades—twenty-five years of bad dates, some good therapy, and quiet Friday nights. I’d survived abuse, betrayal, …

Silly, Frivolous Things

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Life Is a Two-Way Mirror

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I’m a Leaver

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Vulnerability Is Powerful But Not Always Safe

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“Vulnerability is not oversharing. It’s sharing with people who have earned the right to hear our story.” ~Brené Brown

Earlier this year, I found myself in a place I never imagined: locked in a psychiatric emergency room, wearing a paper wristband, surrounded by strangers in visible distress. I wasn’t suicidal. I hadn’t harmed anyone. I’d simply told the truth—and it led me there.

What happened began, in a way, with writing.

I’m in my seventies, and I’ve lived a full life as a filmmaker, teacher, father, and now a caregiver for my ninety-six-year-old mother. But as I’ve gotten older, I’ve …

When Someone Mistreats You

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Practice the Pause

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Life Has Chapters

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Be Like a Sea Turtle

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It’s the Little Things People Do

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My Love Language

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