Is there something magic about the first day of a new year? Does anything really change in your daily life? Is it as easy as flipping a switch to bring in a new set of circumstances, thoughts, or beliefs?
Culture is What You Make It
Very few of us would argue with the idea that we're shaped by our culture. Just ask the parent of a kid who spends hours and hours playing video games. And why do we feel the need to dress in style? Where did the phrase "You do you" come from? Culture is based on ideas. And these ideas had to come from somewhere. At some point, someone had an idea rooted in a value -- something they considered important and worthy of devotion.
Wisdom from Inspector Gamache
My wife is rereading the second book in the series to prepare for Louise Penny's upcoming novel in which she apparently alludes to things in the earlier books. One of the great things about marriage is having someone to share gold nuggets with when they are discovered. My wife shared this nugget with me this morning, which resonates with me as someone who is consistently burdened by the polarization of our culture.
Stepping Outside
It's back to school time, and my wife and I are looking forward to welcoming a new group of Global Studies students. One of the requirements of this course, which we designed ourselves a few years ago, is a certain number of what we call field hours. Field hours are local experiences that take them not only outside their normal routine, but more importantly, outside their zone of familiarity.
A Country Without Music
How much music do you listen to? Do you wake up to it in the morning? Do you listen to it as you drive? Do you like going to concerts every now and then? The city where I live, Nashville, is not called Music City for nothing; the city is awash in recording studios, live music venues, and singer songwriters practicing their craft.
Now imagine a life, a country, where music is outlawed.
Why You Should Travel to a Developing Nation
Yes, I take great joy in taking people to some of my favorite places in Europe, and plan to continue doing so. As we speak, we're gearing up for our summer tour after a corona-hiatus. But as I look back at my somewhat lengthy life, I realize some of the experiences that have marked or formed me the most have not been in Western Europe, but in one developing country or another.
A New Way of Seeing Things
I recently saw this John Steinbeck quote at the JFK airport. It immediately resonated with me. Don'g get me wrong -- there are so many destinations that are worth the trip just to see them. But that is a one-dimentional view of travel. This world is made up not only of physical wonders and unending beauty; the very definition of culture is how people see the world and what they make of it.
When Music Becomes a Weapon
I was amused this week at the news coming out of New Zealand, generally known as a peaceful, forward-thinking country. Apparently the protests in Ottawa and then at the Ambassador Bridge linking the US and Canada have inspired more than one copycat incident, including in Paris. There, protesters were met with fines and arrests. How did the New Zealand authorities deal with the crisis? They played Barry Manilow.
Upending Our Notions of Hospitality
Right now I'm listening to a book called Jupiter's Travels: Four Years Around the World on a Triumph. (A Triumph being a British motorcycle, for the uninitiated.) This 1970's account has become a classic for those afflicted with wanderlust, like yours truly, and the inspiration for the likes of Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman's Long Way Round series. The already pleasant experience of "reading" this book is heightened by the writing of author Ted Simon, already an accomplished journalist when he undertook this massive endeavor.
A Novel Christmas Eve Tradition
A couple of weeks ago we talked about St. Nicholas and how his day is celebrated by millions around the world, with our focus on the Dutch way of celebrating him.… Now we head to Iceland, where a Christmas Eve tradition has caught the attention of my wife and me.
The Impulse to Thank
I was listening to an interview with author Diana Butler Bass the other day, in which she reminded us that some of the most grateful people -- not just those who are profuse with their thanksgiving on Thanksgiving -- are those who have suffered. Suffered oppression, persecution, sickness, war... And while chances are that few of you reading this have suffered these things, which I would not wish on anyone, there's something we all have in common…
R-E-S-P-E-C-T for the elderly
Tomorrow, Sept. 20, is Respect for the Aged Day in Japan. Activities are organized to help the elderly living in the community. Do we have something to learn from our Eastern friends?
But it's your NAME
Grateful Lepers
Amazability
Since the fall of Kabul one week ago today, the drama in Afghanistan has continued to unfold, with heart-wrenching stories of attempts -- some successful, some failed -- to leave the country in the face of a new future under the Taliban. How do we, for the most part comfortable and with our basic needs provided for, process bad news on such a massive scale?
How Father(hood) Shaped Me
A Taste of Home -- or Not
Protein that crawls?
Most of us in the West are aware that humans have been eating insects for thousands of years. And we know that they are still eaten in many parts of the world today. In fact, about 2,000 insect species are eaten worldwide. So why are we still so squeamish about the idea of ingesting creepy crawlers ourselves?
The Korean Art of Nunchi
What makes a country "happy"?
In case you missed it, March 20 was the annual International Day of Happiness. This little-publicized event was established by the UN in 2006, but the first International Day of happiness was first celebrated in 2013. It coincides with the World Happiness report…and guess which country came out on top…again.