Evocateur

What Do You Know In the Afternoon of Life?

In a class on self-expression for “The Afternoon of Life” held at the Jung Center in Houston, I was asked to write quickly before I did any censoring, on what I know. Here is what came out of me. What do you know?  Remember, write fast. What I know, and want to pass on John P. Schuster I know love rules Grace matters Pain subsides Anxiety teaches Anger cleanses Hugs heal Laughter lightens Smiles welcome[…]

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Sensing the Long Arc of Love in Our Elder Years

On TV last night in Houston, St. Patrick’s Day — yes, I still watch local news and weather sometimes — was a most touching story of a school janitor lady giving some of the little money she had to repair a vandalized school bus, one that transports the kids she loves at the school she has worked at for 20 years. It got me to thinking. We all know the above famous Martin Luther King[…]

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A New Year for Our Neglected Democratic Infrastructure

We are gearing up it appears, if legislative forecasting for 2017 can be believed, for a big spend on the long-neglected infrastructure of highways and sewers and bridges. It took us decades to get to this mandate and let’s hope we intelligently add to our public assets. Democracy itself has a less visible infrastructure, but one just as badly in need of repair. Like physical systems, we use the democratic infrastructure all the time: they[…]

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Ripen against the Grain

I did an un-American thing last month. I went on a 33-day trip to Wales, England and, mainly, Ireland. I walked the hills and listened to music and drifted and did nothing to add to the U.S. GDP. It was enriching. I slowed down to a crawl, and had no goals except to enjoy the current day with my wife, Patti. I saw amazing sights, like the sunset posted here, off of Slieve League, a[…]

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Wisdom from a Master

Peter Block’s insights into our work and lives is so precious in this interview of a few months ago at the Hudson Institute’s annual meeting. https://hudsoninstitute.egnyte.com/dl/4eajYdLL0F?utm_source=CHIC+Newsletter+June+2016&utm_campaign=Summer+Newsletter&utm_medium=email

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Things I can do only because I am old

Ok, my most recent reading binge has been on ripening, aka maturing and aging, the 3rd 3rd of life. I am too far along for the “second half of life” term, though this has been and is still a very useful term in some contexts. All of this reading is on later-in-life psychology and even end-of-life. And all of this is age-appropriate material for me, only 27 months away from starting my 8th decade of[…]

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Depth Coaching: Co-Creating Action-Based Wisdom With Our Clients

Enjoy this ICF webinar I presented on February 7, 2016.   If you want to coach leaders with a sense for meaning and calling as central questions of life and work, and an appreciation for the ethical/spiritual dimensions of leadership, then you may want to check this out. Deeper Coaching, Better Outcomes The Bigger Thoughts Behind Our Everyday Thoughts A little offering in a new way to coach: As the coaching field continues to grow,[…]

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Hoping, and Depth Coaching, for Presidential Wisdom

As we witness the United States’ process for selecting its next leader, we’re struck by the over-coverage, and at the same time fascinated by the endless character analysis of the candidates. Among other things, we look for who is the wisest of them all, not the brashest or the coolest or the best debater, even. It is wisdom we most want and need. The world of coaching, with its endless angles on self-reflection, promotes wisdom[…]

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