№ 782. Love, Pedro Arrupe

Ignited to Inspire

 

№ 691. How long will you live?

Performance Excellence Network

 

By Susan Ople

The average life span of a cockroach is one year. But, a cockroach does not know this. It does not scurry into safety at the sight of a giant shoe looming overhead, waiting for the perfect moment to squash it to extinction.

You and I differ from a cockroach. We are born knowing that eventually we will die. Like bread crumbs to pudding, our ashes will comingle with the Earth, thus offering nutrients to earthworms. An earthworm is far luckier than a cockroach. Its life span varies widely, from six to nine years, with the luckier species able to survive for at least 20 years.

That we, humans, are gifted with the knowledge that our umbilical cords come with an expiration date appear to be lost on people who live aimless lives. To wake up each morning and feel that this day is no different than the other is such a grievous error in judgment. Every sunrise is an opportunity to live a day better and more productive than the previous one.

№ 661. The Man Who Planted Trees

Stuck in a Book

 

“For a human character to reveal truly exceptional qualities, one must have the good fortune to be able to observe its performance over many years. If this performance is devoid of all egoism, if its guiding motive is unparalleled generosity, if it is absolutely certain that there is no thought of recompense and that, in addition, it has left its visible mark upon the earth, then there can be no mistake.”

― Jean Giono, The Man Who Planted Trees

 

 

№ 634. Robert Fulghum

Searching for Laugh

Fulghum, a voracious reader, is the first to admit that ''Kindergarten'' is not great literature. Some of it, he freely admits, is the ''worst kind of heart-rending daddy drivel imaginable,'' the literary equivalent of happy-face buttons - cheery conversational revelries on such diverse subjects as hide-and-seek, spider webs, Crayola crayons, Beethoven's Ninth Symphony, Ty Cobb's batting average. Not without charm, the essays seem to appeal to the same instinct that makes the proprietor of a 24-hour grille in Moab decorate the walls of her restaurant with perky sayings like ''Square meals make round people'' and ''Is there life before coffee?''

Rabbi Harold S. Kushner, whose own book of reflective essays, ''When Bad Things Happen to Good People,'' was also a phenomenal best seller, believes that Fulghum's popularity can be explained thus: ''In a world of complex ethical decisions, he cuts through the details and says 'at the heart are a few simple rules. You can be a moral person; it's not as complicated as it seems.' ''

FULGHUM'S ESSAYS REAFFIRM THE SANCTITY OF THE ordinary. He does not preach, and rarely mentions God, but his book has a strong spiritual component. He focuses on the transcendental stuff of everyday life - shoe repair men, raking leaves and emptying the sink strainer. Not quite preacher, not quite regional humorist, he is a hybrid folk fabulist - a sort of Norman Vincent Bombeck.

 

The Ohio State University

 

OUTSIDE THE Edmonds Unitarian Church, in Seattle, where Fulghum served as part-time minister from 1966 until 1985, is a stretch of lawn littered with hundreds of dandelions. The congregation dedicated this patch of ground in Fulghum's honor upon his retirement in 1985, at 48. ''I was speechless beyond belief,'' he said one afternoon at the church. ''It said they heard me. I take this ground very seriously.''

More than anything else, it is Robert Fulghum's years as a minister and teacher that give his stories resonance. ''Being human and alive is a pretty lonely deal,'' he said, ''no matter how intimate or lovely your relationships are.''

His perspectives on the commonality of human experience have been gleaned from hundreds of weddings, funerals, hospital rooms and mortuaries. All that birth, death, and renewal makes for prime storytelling fodder. Distributing someone's remains from 2,000 feet over Bellingham Bay, Wash., in a Cessna, Fulghum had the ashes fly back in his face. ''How do you brush off those ashes?'' he asks with mock seriousness. ''Do you go like this?'' (polite dusting gestures) ''Or like this?'' (frantic pawing).

 

Cartoonist Group

 

№ 282. Tradition and Prejudice

"The bird that would soar above the level of plain tradition and prejudice must have strong wings."

Kate Chopin

I watched Michelle Obama (FLOTUS) speak at the Democratic National Convention. Inspired, inspiring and hopeful! Just what the world needs, just about...now. 

№ 215. Daily Habits of Successful People

My T.R.A.N.S.C.R.I.P.T. / notes. Killing time and trying to be quasi-productive.

Aristotle said that 95% of what we do is the result of habits. Make good habits your masters.

№ 107. A little good news....

№ 65. Renewal

It's the new year. It's a season to plant, nurture and grow roots. Let's paint the earth green, kid.

This is an old favorite that refuses to just gather dust and fade from memory. Classics have a way of resisting oblivion and forgetfulness.

Enjoy.

Bento Box:

"The Man Who Planted Trees (French title L'homme qui plantait des arbres), also known as The Story of Elzéard Bouffier, The Most Extraordinary Character I Ever Met, and The Man Who Planted Hope and Reaped Happiness, is an allegorical tale by French author Jean Giono, published in 1953.

It tells the story of one shepherd's long and successful singlehanded effort to re-forest a desolate valley in the foothills of the Alps near Provence throughout the first half of the 20th century. The tale is quite short—only about 4000 words long."

Thanks Wikipedia, please don't black out again.