Hopeful Thinking

I am a heretic. At least, to certain traditionalist sectors of the culinary world. For you see, the secret to my lasagna, a secret which is about to be revealed to you, with neither expectation of thanks, nor remuneration, is… not to boil the pasta.  It’s true. I never boil the pasta before assembling the lasagna. It is so much easier. I literally frost the hard lasagna noodles right out of the box and lay them side by side in the pan.  I don’t do anything else differently, though. Nor am I claiming to be an epicureal innovator. I’m only a lasagna rogue when it comes to the noodle prep.  Really it’s just because I’m a little lazy that I figured it out. It just occurred to me that the moisture in the sauce would be sufficient to soften the noodles in the oven. The only times it hasn’t worked perfectly is if I don’t completely cover the noodles with sauce. Any exposed bit of noodle ruffle poking out might stay crunchy. This simple step saves quite a bit of time really, and ...

Speak humbly and carry a big heart. You may or may not recognize that as a reinvention of President Teddy Roosevelt’s famous foreign policy quote to "speak softly and carry a big stick; you will go far.”  The idea behind his foreign policy, commonly referred to today as Big Stick Ideology, was that we should be well prepared, and in ways that would make an opponent take notice, to act justly, never bluff, and always leave your adversary with their dignity intact. Debating theology with people, or even arguing with those who have different belief systems, benefits from the same advice. Be knowledgeable, and take the time to understand various viewpoints in advance, so that they know you know what you’re talking about. Because even while you might not agree with them, you respectfully understand the perspectives of the views they may hold.  Never deceive and never behave in a passively aggressive way in the course of your arguments. And should you best them in a contest, treat t...

What are the implications of goodness? Even more, what are the implications of the proven fact that exhibiting kindness has a positive effect on things like the immune system? That fact alone should make one think about what is natural to us as humans. War and conflict are not natural to humans. If they were, there would be a physiological benefit to practicing them. But there is not. There are other phenomena like this. Gratitude? Natural. Compassion? Natural. Healthy self-awareness? Absolutely natural. We know this because when people do them they live longer. What other conclusion is there to draw other than that we were literally made for goodness? And when we contravene that natural tendency over and over, we get sick, we even die.  This is the basis of my optimism for the future of humanity. When we are kind to just ourselves, there is a benefit, but only momentarily. It does not last, nor does it make an impact on our overall immune system. Yet when we are kind to others, it...

I have been described in the past as an “expansive thinker.” It wasn’t meant as a compliment, but I took it as one nonetheless. It’s true that my mind works in expansive ways, generally overthinking things, but also imagining huge possibilities ahead. That’s the part I like. When it comes to making change in my life, however, this trait often has a tendency to not just invite change in practical, realistic ways, but also in ways that can overwhelm the sense of discipline we all need to make change possible. In other words, the idea of a brick often makes me think of building the Great Wall of China. A single brick is doable. The Great Wall of China is not. There’s a lesson in this. Humans are not designed to take on enormous shifts of reality all at once. It is generally better for us to break things down into increments. Steps. Stages. Smart change versus drastic. I recently wrote about wanting to think of my life as a series of sacred temples; each with its own domain and list of nud...