The world needs us to each do our part. As we approach this new beginning, here’s to more love and kindness, including self-loving and caring, being doing whatever uplifts us. Be a fountain not a drain!

All the seasonal traditions ­– Diwali, Hanukkah, Kwanza, Solstice and Christmas – aim to be uplifting with the return of light and goodness. So why do we sometimes fall short?

When – not if – the machines became more intelligent than humans, might they turn on their creators? Could we unintentionally create a self-aware AI that has its own motivations and goals? These queries, while they may seem the realm of dystopian science fiction, are now full front and center in the debates about the dangers of giving AI systems autonomy, demanding answers about how to ensure that AI systems remain aligned with human values and objectives.

In common usage, “hate speech” refers to offensive discourse that targets either a group or an individual based on inherent characteristics (such as race, religion or gender). How might we differentiate that from free speech, especially in terms of current events and the Israel Gaza war.?

I share a recent talk I gave at the Celebration, a long-standing Santa Fe spiritual community. I present some ideas about 3 principles of conscious aging.

“My life has been full of terrible misfortunes, most of which never happened.” Thus said Michel de Montaigne, the French Renaissance philosopher. How much energy do I give to my worries, anxieties and fears? 

Anyone familiar with some of the great war movies – the Deer Hunter, Apocalypse Now, Band of Brothers, & Saving Private Ryan come to mind – will acknowledge their portrayal of courage, comradeship and the meaningless abominations of armed conflict, and without glorifying any of it, also show the destructive ripple effects on families and communities.

Constantly connected to a digital neighborhood, endlessly distracted, lost in the trance of busyness and the cult of productivity, I can easily drift from living on purpose. I firmly believe that everyone needs a center and an edge.

The shimmering luminous web of connection to my more primitive self is satisfying in ways that remain important to my wellbeing on every level—physical mental emotional and spiritual. It is hard to articulate, but walking in the moonlight, hunting, gathering or time around a fire trigger, what exactly?

Thought of this as a topic while driving down I25 in a steel container at 75 mph – a journey that a mere 120 years ago would have taken three days – the scenery zipping by as if by magic. And doing that while chatting with a friend 3000 thousand miles away—hands free of course, my phone connected via Bluetooth to my hearing aids.