Is your world more down than up? Has sideways become your new vertical? Have your health, sanity, relationships, future plans, money, housing and/or employment concerns been in bucking-bronco states of flux? Have global warming, political warring, economic forecasting, ecological nightmares and cresting costs-of-living upped your blood pressure, lowered your sleep quotient and played havoc with […]
Archive | Attention

13 Everyday Ways to Help Prevent Suicide
September is Suicide Prevention Month or, conversely, pending where in the world you are, Suicide Awareness Month. This is the month where we focus our attention and energies on the rampant global epidemic of suicide and consider ways to end this pernicious, deep sorrow. To that end, over the coming days on The Penguin, I […]
Today, I choose puppies
We have choice — always. It’s one of our greatest powers. What we choose defines our lives. We have choice in how we respond, in how we react, in how we approach what’s before us, in how we focus our attention, in how we honor ourselves and how we expend energies in this heart-pumping, neuron-firing, […]

13 Everyday Ways to Help Prevent Suicide
Monday, September 10, 2018 is World Suicide Prevention Day, where we focus our attention and energies on the rampant global epidemic of suicide and consider ways to end this pernicious, deep sorrow. From my research, I would say everyone has been impacted by suicide. Be it their own abstract thoughts, a school rocked with grief […]
How to fix a broken heart
We have all been there. Psychologist Dr. Guy Winch’s TED talk, based on his book of the same name, encourages us to tend carefully to our broken hearts and give them the focus, care and attention they deserve. This 12 minute talk is worth your time. Enjoy, and may you find this helpful.

The flow of focus
It’s sometimes so hard to maintain our focus. The world is full of so many delicious distractions. It almost seems easier to be preoccupied. Focus requires commitment and dedication. Focus demands our complete, unadulterated attention. Sustained focus is an act of will that delivers us into a channel of flow. Focus moves us from the […]

The sensitive, the considerate and the plucky
“I believe in aristocracy. . . Not an aristocracy of power, based upon rank and influence, but an aristocracy of the sensitive, the considerate and the plucky. Its members are to be found in all nations and classes, and all through the ages, and there is a secret understanding between them when they meet. They […]
Welcome, Class, to Advanced Uncertainty
Is your world more down than up? Has sideways become your new vertical? Have your health, sanity, relationships, future plans, money, housing and/or employment concerns been in bucking-bronco states of flux? Have global warming, political warring, economic forecasting, ecological nightmares and cresting costs-of-living upped your blood pressure, lowered your sleep quotient and played havoc with […]

Sticks and stones: three gates of responsibility
“Sticks and stones can break my bones, but words will never hurt me.” We all know that this is patently untrue. Words hold intent. Words can comfort and soothe; equally, they can pierce and abuse. Mindless chitchat can fill an empty void. Gossip can become blood sport and lead to vilification and bullying. We can […]

Calling a time tight house
Lovies, I have been having a “Come to Jesus” meeting with myself about how I spend, squander, and give away my time. Needless to say, I have traversed this ground before, but at this moment, I need to give myself an intervention. There is an old term from my days of working in a drug clinic. […]