[029] Alignment: Finding Common Ground Without Agreement
Last week’s post on authenticity struck a nerve—some readers thought I was discouraging speaking up against injustice. Let me be clear: I’m not. But watching my nephews pivot from near-fistfight to teamwork in seconds revealed something profound about how we navigate disagreement. The secret isn’t converting people to our viewpoint—it’s discovering alignment. Here’s the difference, and why mastering it might be the most important skill for our third act.
[028] Are we all siblings having a national tantrum?
At 68, I thought I’d finally escaped the pull of conformity that plagued my teenage years. Instead, I’ve discovered something more unsettling: we’re all still teenagers, desperately seeking approval from our chosen tribes. From my perch in Washington DC, I’ve watched our culture devolve into pure sibling rivalry – and realized that breaking free from our “They self” isn’t just personal growth, it’s cultural survival. Here’s why authenticity might be the antidote to our collective possession.
[027] Aliveness: The Fourth Aspiration for a Thriving Third Act
Some people seem lit from within, radiating a rare joie de vivre. Were they simply born with “it”? Let’s explore how anyone can cultivate this elusive quality—aliveness—by loosening old conditioning and rediscovering the spacious awareness that children know instinctively.