Category: Being Human

A society grows great when old men plant trees whose shade they know they shall never sit in. — Some Ancient Greek Today I planted some trees that I will probably never see grow to full size. Gave one to a dear friend. I have my own little orchard now. And that, really, is what a lot of life is about. A lot of the things we do are 20 or 30 years out, and we don’t even realize it at the time. Raising children. Who you marry. The company you build. The house you buy. The life you create. … Continue readingPlant Trees you will Never See — Olive Trees

A society does not collapse because people stop talking about equality. It collapses when people stop teaching responsibility, honesty, discipline, and respect — and then act surprised when trust disappears. –YNOT! There is a funny thing about revolutions. They always promise to make people equal. But somewhere along the road, they stop asking whether people are becoming better. A society can become more equal in paperwork while becoming poorer in character. And that is the part nobody likes to talk about. For fifty years, America has been busy tearing down rules, traditions, customs, manners, expectations, and social codes because … Continue readingWhat Did We Forget in Our Hurry to Build a Revolution of Equality?

  “A man can hide his sins from the world, but not from himself.” –YNOT! The Story of Dorian Gray usually refers to Oscar Wilde’s novel The Picture of Dorian Gray. It is about a handsome young man, Dorian Gray, who has his portrait painted. He wishes he could stay young forever while the portrait grows old instead. His wish comes true. Dorian remains beautiful, but every selfish, cruel, and corrupt thing he does appears on the painting. The story is really about vanity, temptation, moral decay, and the danger of living only for pleasure. Dorian keeps his good looks, … Continue readingWhat Happens When Beauty Gets Everything Except a Conscience?

“Hate is a shortcut for thinking—once you take it, facts don’t matter, only targets do.” –YNOT! It amazes me that whenever something happens in the world, a predictable chorus shows up and starts screaming. The Trump haters come out in force. And honestly—I get it. A lot of people genuinely dislike Trump. Trump is definitely flawed individual like all of us. But I also wonder: how much of this is organic, and how much is engineered? How many are true believers, and how many are foreign “avatars”—accounts, influencers, or coordinated campaigns that exist mainly to inflame Americans against each … Continue readingHATE TRUMP

“I no longer fear death — I fear eternity spent with the same cast of characters.” — YNOT! If mankind ever succeeds in abolishing death, he will discover shortly thereafter that he has abolished far more than funerals. He will have canceled bankruptcy for the rich, retirement for the powerful, rebellion for the young, and urgency for the rest of us. We speak of immortality as though it were a spa treatment — a pleasant extension of the weekend — when in fact it is a constitutional amendment to reality itself. We assume the world would simply stretch out, … Continue readingImmortality – Forever Is a Dangerous Idea

“I had kind of given myself into like this is like the life that I’m going to live. I’m probably going to die young and I’m going to die this way and that’s fine.”– Glynis   When I watch the following story I wonder not only how low someone can go. But how easy it is to fall and fall down deeper. Am amazingly not only she survived but she is now clean, and helping others just a few years later. Many don’t make it back she did, and had an amazing story worth listening to. Sp let me … Continue readingBROKEN

“If you build a reputation on intensity, arrogance, and winning at any cost, a billion dollars doesn’t humble you — it convinces you that rules are optional, partners are disposable, and outcomes matter more than conduct.” — YNOT!   Was Bill Gates the proof that unlimited money could grow a conscience… or just the best-marketed illusion of our time? For nearly twenty years, Bill Gates sat on top of the money mountain like a man who’d solved the final level of capitalism and decided to play it on “benevolent mode.” He pledged to give away most of his fortune … Continue readingThe Good Billionaire — or the Big Lie?

“Stupid is as stupid does.”  — Forrest Gump Five words,  Short. Clean. Ruthless in its simplicity.It doesn’t insult intelligence—it judges behavior. And that’s why it still lands. Because intelligence can be hidden… but actions always testify. You don’t have to spend long in public—or online—to realize common sense has quietly slipped out the back door, leaving the lights on and the fridge open. Mark Twain, one of my favorite writers,  noticed this trend long before comment sections, cable news, or Congress as performance art. He made a career out of watching marbles roll away from people’s heads and documenting the … Continue readingHave you ever looked at someone and wondered how they tied their shoes without calling tech support?

“Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing himself.” — Leo Tolstoy   It’s a brutal sentence because it leaves no place to hide. We live in an age obsessed with fixing everything—governments, systems, corporations, markets, cultures, algorithms, other people. Every problem is external. Every failure is someone else’s fault. If only they would change, the world would finally work. But Tolstoy, writing long before social media, cable news, or outrage economics, understood something timeless: the world doesn’t change from the outside in—it changes from the inside out. Most people want transformation without discomfort. Revolution … Continue readingEveryone Wants to Change the World — BUT!

“The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.” –MLK! Everyone remembers Martin Luther King Jr. for “I Have a Dream.” It’s quoted in classrooms, carved into monuments, and replayed every January like a national hymn. But far fewer people remember another speech. Not delivered to a cheering crowd. Not framed by optimism. Not built around hope. It was a sermon—quiet, sharp, and uncomfortable. In it, King wasn’t talking about dreams. He was talking about character. About what happens when pressure … Continue readingThe True Measure of a Man – The Other Martin Luther King Speech

“Christmas isn’t about perfect people or perfect years—it’s about imperfect people choosing to gather anyway.  Flaws are not failures; they’re proof you were real.” –YNOT! So this is Christmas. Another year wrapped up, tagged, and shoved into the attic with the decorations. Bells are ringing, candles are lit, and everyone is asking the same quiet question—what have we done with the time we were given? The answer, if we’re being honest, is our best and our worst, often in the same afternoon. Confucius—who never had to host a holiday dinner, but understood people anyway—put it plainly: better a diamond … Continue readingSo This Is Christmas (More or Less) – and Some XMAS Songs

Impact doesn’t require grandeur -YNOT!  Some folks spend their whole lives waiting for the trumpet to sound, the curtain to rise, and the grand moment when they finally do something “great.” They imagine history keeping a seat warm for them, as if greatness were a train that arrives precisely on schedule. But Mother Teresa had the good sense to point out a truth most of us learn too late: “Not all of us can do great things. But we can do small things with great love.” That line carries more weight than a cathedral built without nails. Because the … Continue readingNot all of us can do great things. But we can do small things with great love

  I’ve come to believe the human mind has the attention span of a goldfish wearing AirPods. A tragedy can shake the world at breakfast and be old news by lunch. Doesn’t matter what it is — a plane hits a tower, a virus shuts down the planet, a reactor melts down, or the earth decides to shrug like it’s stretching its shoulders. Give folks a few weeks, and the headlines fade like a cheap tattoo in the sun. It isn’t that people are heartless. No — it’s that the brain runs a tight budget. Fear and sorrow cost … Continue readingWhy Humans Forget So Fast– Even what Broke Us

Do we have free will?… Either way we have no choice. –YNOT   Free will is one of those questions folks like to chase in circles, the way a dog chases its tail—looks mighty philosophical until you realize nobody’s getting anywhere. Some say every step we take was written long before our boots hit the ground. Others swear we’re the captains of our own souls, steering life with a hand as steady as a preacher on Sunday. But here’s the joke the universe plays on both camps: whether your choices are real or just part of the script, you … Continue readingDo we have free will? Maybe. Do we have a choice about choosing? Not a chance.”

Aha — the moment your soul catches up to your thoughts. –YNOT We live in an age that worships the grind — the endless hammering of thought upon thought, as if wisdom were a nail that finally gives up. Yet every so often, a quieter miracle occurs. You’re staring at a problem, worn and weary, and suddenly the lights flicker on. The world tilts, the answer winks, and you whisper, “Aha.” That’s not luck, friend. That’s your brain’s version of grace. 🧩 1. Step Away and Let It Stew Twain once said, “The pause between lightning and thunder is … Continue readingHow to Invite the Aha!

There once was a man named Ynot, born under peculiar circumstances — as most worthwhile people are. His mother, Ada, had long ago decided that men were a complicated species best observed under glass, not lived with. So she borrowed what she needed from a half-sedated soldier at the veterans’ hospital, said “thank you kindly,” and from that day forward raised Ynot all by her lonesome — armed with a fierce sense of independence and a frying pan that could settle any argument before it started. Ada became something of a legend after writing her little book, “A Lady’s … Continue readingThe World According to YNOT

WIP – Work in Progress- Like most of us… They met between peaches and promises at the Saturday market. Diane laughed with her whole face. Jack mistook the flash for sunrise and bought her a jar of honey to make it last. For a while, everything tasted like that honey—toast, coffee, even the air. They’d park by the old football field where August still smells like grass and brass. The soft-serve stand’s flickering neon spoon buzzed along with the radio’s three stubborn chords. They ate on the hood of Jack’s fading red car and talked the way kids do—big, … Continue readingJack & Diane – Two American Kids doing the best they can…. WIP

Most people who know me would never guess I’m an introvert at heart. They see me talking, joking, carrying on — and assume I came into this world with a silver tongue. Truth is, when I was young, I was the kid in the corner, hugging the wall like it might save me. Quiet as a church mouse, saying nothing to nobody. But life, in its usual rude way, taught me a lesson: silence may be golden, but it won’t buy you friends, fun, or even a decent paycheck. So I set out to fake it. Some bright soul … Continue reading🤝 The Art of Small Talk: How the Quiet Ones Win the Conversation

Some folks spend their days chasing coins they’ll never count, and applause that dies out as fast as it’s given. They measure life by paychecks and titles, running in circles like dogs after their own tails. But I’ll tell you plain—give me a boat steady under my feet, a drink cool in my hand, and a sunset burning the horizon—and I’ll feel richer than any banker in his counting house. There’s a kind of wisdom the water whispers if you sit still long enough to hear it. Out here, the air carries salt and memory, the waves keep time … Continue readingWhat are you Chasing?