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There is a peculiar piece of advice floating around these days that says personal growth requires us to “be vulnerable.” Like many pieces of advice, it contains considerable truth—and just enough ambiguity to get us into trouble. Vulnerability does not mean wandering through life emotionally naked, announcing every insecurity to anyone unfortunate enough to be […]

Welcome to the WMBA. No, that isn’t a typo. Let me explain. If the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) ultimately decides that biological males may qualify for its teams simply by pretending they are women, then perhaps intellectual honesty requires changing the name. The Women’s and Men’s Basketball Association (WMBA) has a nice ring to […]

Let me come clean right at the outset: I am not a trained chef. I’ve never attended culinary school, I don’t own one of those tall white hats, and no one is going to confuse me with Wolfgang Puck. But I do love to cook. There is something wonderfully therapeutic about working in the kitchen—chopping, […]

Building Your Power of Expression Aforementioned, adj. Pronunciation: əˈfôrˌmen(t)SHənd Meaning: This word denotes a thing or person previously mentioned or referred to earlier, especially earlier in the same conversation, document, or piece of writing. In conversational English, it basically means “the thing/person I mentioned before.” Usage: “I will be playing various songs from the aforementioned […]

Before I begin planning each new week, I engage in a brief exercise that takes only a few minutes but often changes the way I approach the days ahead. I pause and reconnect with my core values. Years ago, I learned a weekly planning process from Stephen R. Covey that began not with appointments or […]

I am going to begin with a premise. My premise is straightforward: it is biologically impossible for a man to become an actual woman or for a woman to become an actual man. Modern medicine can alter a person’s appearance through surgery and hormone therapy. It can change certain secondary sex characteristics. But it cannot […]

This week I found myself in a place that most people spend their lives hoping never to enter: a women’s prison. A small group of us had been invited there to spend an hour with about fifty inmates. We sang a few songs, offered words of encouragement, prayed together, and, perhaps most importantly, simply spent […]

Building Your Power of Expression Scurrilous, adj. Pronunciation: ‘skaralas Meaning: This word refers to the making of scandalous claims about someone with the intention of damaging their reputation. Important note: it almost always carries the implication that the attack is not merely harsh but also unfair, abusive, or malicious. It is not ordinarily used for […]

Most of us are far more forgiving of other people than we are of ourselves. A friend makes a mistake at work, and we tell him, “Don’t beat yourself up. Learn from it and move on.” Yet when we make a similar mistake, we become our own harshest critic. We replay the error repeatedly, dwell […]

July 4, 2026, marked an extraordinary milestone: the 250th anniversary of the birth of the United States of America. For a quarter of a millennium, this nation has stood as history’s greatest experiment in ordered liberty. It has endured wars, depressions, assassinations, pandemics, social upheaval, and countless political storms. Yet through it all, the American […]

I deliver a presentation entitled Navigating the Storms of Life. It has been one of my most requested presentations over the years, and I’ve had the privilege of sharing it with audiences in several countries. The “storms” I discuss in that presentation are, of course, metaphorical. They include things like loneliness, financial setbacks, conflict, disappointment, […]

Building Your Power of Expression Malodorous, adj. Pronunciation: mal’ōdərəs Meaning: This word is to be used to describe anything (or anyone) possessing an unpleasant odor. If spoiled roast beef wreaks, it could be said to be malodorous. If you are walking into a Paris subway and right in front of you is a man who […]

Most people own a camera. Fewer people own a telescope. Fewer still know when to use each. One of the most useful mental skills you can develop is the ability to switch between what I call Wide-Angle Thinking and Close-Up Thinking. Both have value. Both have a purpose. The problem is that many people use […]

I have spent a good deal of time over the years criticizing Leftism, not because I enjoy political combat for its own sake, but because I believe the modern Left increasingly finds itself at odds with many of the values that have historically allowed Western civilization to flourish. Before proceeding, let me define what I […]

I have been fortunate to count DB among my friends for nearly forty years. Three years my senior and trained in both the arts and the sciences, she is a brilliant communicator—smart, opinionated, deeply principled, and an endlessly engaging conversationalist. We see the world very differently, which is one of the reasons our friendship has […]

Building Your Power of Expression Bawdy, adj., n. Pronunciation: ‘bôdē Meaning: As a noun (which is uncommon), bawdy refers to humorously indecent talk or writing. As an adjective (more common), bawdy refers to anything dealing with sexual matters in a comical way. Usage: “Her work is characterized by irreverence and bawdy humor.” “This group regularly […]

We live in a culture obsessed with time management. Buy a planner. Download an app. Color-code your calendar. Schedule your day in fifteen-minute increments. If that fails, buy a more expensive planner. Yet many highly organized people still end the day exhausted, frustrated, and wondering why their productivity never seems to match their intentions. Why? […]

Some time ago, I came across a statement by one Molly McNearney in which she reportedly lamented that political differences had become so severe that she had effectively terminated relationships with some members of her own family. Who is Molly McNearney? She is the Executive Producer and co-head writer of Jimmy Kimmel Live. She is […]

I have something encouraging to say to any who strive for something but fail. Let me start by saying that, due to a recent birthday, I am not a young man anymore. But I still exercise with some regularity. It’s been a long time since I was able to run 1 mile in 8 minutes […]

Building Your Power of Expression Coterie, n. Pronunciation: ˈkōdərē Meaning: A coterie is a small, often exclusive group of people with share interests or tastes, or occupation, or social status, or purpose, especially one that is exclusive of other people. Usage: “The author was surrounded by a coterie of loyal admirers.” “A coterie of political […]

The world runs on imbalance. Twenty percent of your wardrobe gets worn eighty percent of the time. Twenty percent of your clients generate eighty percent of your revenue. Twenty percent of your friends are responsible for eighty percent of your laughter — and, inconveniently, probably eighty percent of your bad decisions. This charming little phenomenon […]

For generations, anti-Semitism was treated as one of civilization’s great moral disgraces — the ancient prejudice that culminated in ghettos, pogroms, and ultimately the Holocaust. Yet today, Jew-hatred has returned in forms both familiar and newly fashionable, often disguised as moral sophistication or political activism. Since the October 7, 2023 Hamas atrocities against Israeli civilians, […]

At last we arrive at the deepest and most challenging of all inquiries: Why. “Why” questions pursue meaning and purpose. They ask not merely what is happening or how something can be done, but why it should matter at all. Why does this effort deserve our attention? Why do certain values guide our decisions? Why […]

Building Your Power of Expression Yawning, adj. Pronunciation: ‘yôniNG Meaning: Admittedly, when referring to the reflex action of opening the mouth wide and inhaling deeply due to feelings of fatigue associated with sleepiness, the word is a noun. But the word can also be used as an adjective, which is my focus at this time. […]

In a culture where “supersize” became a selling point and value is often measured by quantity, it’s no surprise that portion distortion has quietly reshaped our relationship with food. Many of us don’t overeat because we lack discipline—we overeat because the baseline has shifted. What we perceive as “normal” is, in many cases, far more […]

There is an old pattern in human history that refuses to die. Every civilization eventually develops a growing suspicion that somewhere behind the visible machinery of politics, media, finance, and culture, there are smaller circles of influence operating quietly in the shadows. Sometimes those suspicions are paranoid fantasy. Sometimes they are rooted in very real […]

Every action unfolds within a context. Circumstances have location, environment, and setting. Recognizing this leads us to the next form of inquiry: Where. “Where” questions examine context and placement. They ask us to consider the environments in which decisions occur and the settings in which outcomes will emerge. Where should effort be directed? Where does […]

Building Your Power of Expression Bovine, adj. Pronunciation: ˈbōˌvīn Meaning: While the word bovine has reference to things associated with hoofed, cud-chewing mammals such as cows, American bison, water buffalo, yaks, and several other species that have cloven hooves and favor herbivorous diets, over time the word has been used in a derogatory sense to […]

For many people, the idea of losing weight conjures images of strict diets, constant hunger, and complicated rules. Calories must be counted, entire food groups eliminated, and willpower stretched to its breaking point. It’s no wonder so many give up before they see meaningful results. But what if the process were simpler? Intermittent fasting offers […]

There is a particular kind of tragedy that cuts deeper than most: the kind that never had to happen in the first place. Every homicide is devastating, but some carry an added, unbearable weight—the knowledge that the perpetrator had already demonstrated a clear capacity for violence and was nonetheless free to act again. These are […]