Taoist teachings often come in the form of a story. These ancient tales are entertaining and illuminating. The messages they offer are as relevant today as they were during the Han dynasty. The story, The Horse Expert, is about assessing the character of an animal, but it applies to everyone who touches our lives. Evaluating the merits of a new puppy, an employee, a boss, or a friend-to-be is not easy.  What we see is not always what we get. Is our response to outward appearances reliable, or do we need to look deeper?

Thank you for visiting the blog this week. As readers, you are my treasured partners in this writing adventure. I write from the heart and I appreciate your responsive notes and comments. Valentine's Day is a reminder to express warm sentiments to those who bring us joy - and that includes ourselves. So I'm wondering, if you were sending yourself a valentine, what would the message say? Would it express love and appreciation for all the ways you are kind, generous, and caring? Would you compose a message that’s inspiring, practical, or funny? 

Sometimes I feel disconnected - a lone island in a vast expanse of timeless emptiness. Then I consider the complex strands of DNA that run my physical and emotional body - all inherited from the genetic pool of my grandparents, their grandparents, and all my ancestors - separate families from diverse global cultures. We are all interconnected in amazing ways. Until I investigated hypnic jerks, I neglected to include the connection we have as a species - the influence of thousands, no, millions of years of evolution. Yes, I understood it as a concept, but consider this...

On Saturday, January 23rd, 2016, snow fell from the sky amid gusting 60 mile per hour winds, and was declared a blizzard.  Sixteen inches of white stuff fell in Greenwich, Connecticut. Thirty-six inches of snow fell in Staten Island, New York. That’s a lot of snow! The Mayor of New York City measured it this way; "The weekend snowstorm dropped 105 billion pounds of snow on the city." And an amazed visitor from Mexico City said, "I've never seen anything like this," as he carried his suitcase in his cold, ungloved hand, and trudged along the snowy sidewalk.

What if I know you’re not perfect, and I love and admire you anyway? There’s no such thing as perfection in nature. Nature models this everywhere. Flowers are perfectly imperfect: a curled leaf, a twisted stem, or a misshapen petal. Oranges are perfectly imperfect: not quite round, not uniformly orange, and with bruises on the skin. No two sunsets are the same: in clear weather they can be glorious spectacles; in stormy weather they can be barely noticeable. While we have preferences, there's no single model of perfection: no perfect flower, orange, or sunset. And that's true for humans as well.