A friend of mine sent me a link to a heart-warming TED presentation yesterday which got me thinking on tribalism and the longing to belong. The talk was given by a talented South African wildlife activist and storyteller named Boyd Varty. Boyd touched on the uniquely African concept called "ubuntu," which is defined as "I …
Tag: greg hake
You’re as big as you feel
You're as big as you feel. When you feel good about yourself and your situation, you feel "larger than life." When you feel constricted, down and out or that the world's against you, you feel small, if not insignificant. Why is that? Your sense of self is a function of radiance and radiance is a …
Why?
My youngest son, William, was singing a quiet little song when I checked in on him during his bath last evening. Here's how the conversation went... Me: Everything ok, William? Are you having a peaceful bath? William: Yes, daddy. I'm just singing a song I wrote. Me: I heard you singing, what is the song …
Equal Gains
"Modern Man is the victim of the very instruments he values most. Every gain in power, every mastery of natural forces, every scientific addition to knowledge, has proved potentially dangerous, because it has not been accompanied by equal gains in self-understanding and self-discipline." - Lewis Mumford The longevity of any society depends upon the ability …
Come Again
Nativity by John Donne Immensity cloistered in thy dear womb, Now leaves His well-belov'd imprisonment, There He hath made Himself to His intent Weak enough, now into the world to come; But O, for thee, for Him, hath the inn no room? Yet lay Him in this stall, and from the Orient, Stars and wise …
At Christmas
At Christmas by Edgar Albert Guest A man is at his finest towards the finish of the year; He is almost what he should be when the Christmas season is here; Then he’s thinking more of others than he’s thought the months before, And the laughter of his children is a joy worth toiling for. He …
Paying It Forward
Every once in a while you see something worth sharing, those occasional moments of unexpected selflessness which restore your faith in humanity. I was on a full commercial flight yesterday afternoon and while I was sitting, waiting for the rest of the passengers to board, a gentlemen in first class whose family was in coach …
Sufficient Motivation
What is it in the human spirit which compels him to accomplish great things, to compete to the best of his ability? I had a wonderful conversation with a Coloradan who had spent seven winters in Antarctica several years ago and he was telling me of an opportunity he had to meet Sir Edmund Hillary …
Heaven’s Smile
To Winter by William Blake O winter! bar thine adamantine doors: The north is thine; there hast thou built thy dark Deep-founded habitation. Shake not thy roofs Nor bend thy pillars with thine iron car. He hears me not, but o’er the yawning deep Rides heavy; his storms are unchain’d, sheathed In ribbed steel; I …
Persistence
“Success is stumbling from failure to failure with no loss of enthusiasm.” - Winston Churchill My sons are continuing to refine their downhill skiing skills this winter, and I am thrilled to see them coming face to face with the a temptation that stops many in their tracks: giving up when the going gets tough. …
Gregory Hake 