Good Clean Reads

“A mother is the truest friend we have, when trials heavy and sudden, fall upon us; when adversity takes the place of prosperity; when friends who rejoice with us in our sunshine desert us; when trouble thickens around us, still will she cling to us, and endeavor by her kind precepts and counsels to dissipate the clouds of darkness, and cause peace to return to our hearts.”  ~Washington Irving

The...

“There is but one truly serious philosophical problem and that is suicide.” -Albert Camus

Today was the memorial service for the doctor who recently took his own life. The local high school auditorium was full to capacity again, for yet another untimely death in our community. First I was struck by how many lives a single life touches. We are often so unaware of how many people we impact each day...

“I can’t change the fact that my paintings don’t sell. But the time will come when people will recognize that they are worth more than the value of the paints used in the picture.”  -Vincent van Gogh

Would Van Gogh ever have believed that his work would fetch millions? I know that he never made a penny witnessing and rendering the world in broad strokes of color. He stayed true to his vision...

“People do not die for us immediately, but remain bathed in a sort of aura of life which bears no relation to true immortality but through which they continue to occupy our thoughts in the same way as when they were alive.  It is as though they were traveling abroad. ” ~Marcel Proust

Recently a man shot himself in the head in his garden. I pass by his home every time I get the opportunity to walk...

“We should come home from adventures, and perils, and discoveries every day with new experience and character.” -Henry David Thoreau

The most memorable moment of the Banff Film Festival this weekend was the recollection by  James and Justin about their journey in a two man kayak Crossing the Ditch,which is another name for one of the most robust sea crossings; the Tasman sea, a 2000 plus kilometer...

“To fear love is to fear life, and those who fear life are already three parts dead.” -Bertrand Russell

I have come to believe that much of what parades as sexual dissatisfaction between couples is actually a manifestation of fear. Most people through no fault of their own have had little education concerning their sexuality or their access to pleasure. Laden as the topic is with shame and...

“It was a high counsel that I once heard given to a young person, “Always do what you are afraid to do.” -Ralph Waldo Emerson

Sometimes the storyline and problem solving that can and often does dominate life can consume it. We can’t see the light changing in the sky or hear the birds in the morning. We miss out on lighthearted exchanges happening around us because we are too consumed with the...

“The world has grown suspicious of anything that looks like a happily married life.”  -Oscar Wilde

I know my marriage is an anomaly. Happy marriages are rare. For as much as we all long for a relationship that we can grow old in, we don’t really believe in them. I think this might be because many people confuse the early “in love” experience of relating with the ongoing effort of creating a love...