Category: Uncategorized
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What a Speech 17 Years Ago Taught Me About Fear
This week, I read a short story about an actor who won the Academy Award twice. Despite a successful career spanning decades, Henry Fonda still had stage fright. At age 75, he would throw up backstage before a performance. He would then clean up, march on stage, and act like nothing had happened. This story…
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But You Get $7,500 Back
Our 2003 Honda Civic started leaking oil at the bottom a while back. The owner at the car repair shop kindly advised it would cost more than the car’s worth to fix the car. “It may be time to move on,” she said. I admired her honesty. Over the last few weeks, we’ve been on…
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Stored Energy
I was cleaning dishes the other day when I flipped a bowl over in the sink. I saw a signature at the bottom that I hadn’t noticed in a long time. EAC, a friend, gifted us two hand-made bowls when she used to live close by. She was active in pottery workshops and had a…
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What I hate NOT doing
I just finished a book called Hell Yeah or No by Derek Sivers. What struck me the most was a section where he explored how to discern the things worth doing. Sivers observed that the traditional soul-searching questions we ask are What do I love? or What makes me happy? These questions often work poorly.…
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The age of mania
This week, I read an article about celebrities getting into trouble for involvement in the now-defunct cryptocurrency exchange company FTX. The company, valued at $32 billion in January 2022, is now worthless and under investigation. The list of celebrities includes household names and ranges from pro athletes and musicians to actors and entrepreneurs. Many lost money; a…
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How to Reach the South Pole
In October 1911, British Navy Officer Robert Falcon Scott and Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen set out in a race for an unprecedented feat. Their goal: to be the first in history to reach the South Pole. While Scott and Amundsen shared the same vision, they differed in every other way. Backed by a powerful empire, Scott led a team…
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It’s easy to forget
If you ask me how my week was: Actually, that wasn’t quite right. Here’s a more accurate version. I was under the weather most of this week. I was fatigued. My stomach felt weird. I did a covid test at home, and it was negative, so I don’t know what it is. I went to…
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How to be original?
“Every artist dips their brush into their own soul and paints their own nature into their pictures.” –Henry Ward Beecher
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Beneath the surface
Zacatecas in Mexico has a breathtaking landscape: ornate colonial buildings, rows of colorful houses up the hills, and winding cobblestoned alleyways in between. The city is vibrant yet uncrowded. The people are friendly. I’d be happy to stay here for weeks. Like many major Mexican cities, Zacatecas had a challenging colonization history. What made the town unique…
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Viva la vida
While wandering in San Luis Potosí’s historic center, I saw a musician in an alley. He was playing Coldplay’s Viva La Vida on a violin. Two people walked by and contributed to his violin box, but he seemed too into his performance to notice. His choice to play in this relatively quiet alley intrigued me. The Plaza de…
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Eres importante
Taco Y Tortas El Torito in San Luis Potosí is remarkable. Like many excellent street taco shops, El Torito offers delicious food with various options at reasonable prices, but it provides more than that. The stall is adjacent to a small storefront with ice-cold drinks in the fridge and a sink to wash your hands. The area is…
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The Evolution of Work
It’s hard to recall that, not too long ago, people used to work full-time operating an elevator, processing telegrams, and redirecting calls on a switchboard. Looking at the last decade alone, the evolution of jobs has been dramatic. Video stores and theatres have closed with the rise of streaming services. Travel agencies have folded when…
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Timeless skills
The public interest in the chatbot ChatGPT this year has been tremendous. Many enthusiasts find artificial intelligence (AI) exciting; others are concerned (and rightfully so). I don’t know how AI will evolve, but one trend will likely continue as it has in the last century: people and organizations will rely more on machines to augment…