a daily blog on well-being and how to feel better by Mark Barger Elliott…

John Berryman was a Pulitzer Prize wining poet and in “Address to the Lord” offers the fascinating phrase, “initiatory faith.” Merriam-Webster defines the word “initiatory” as “constituting a beginning.” Isn’t that a wonderful definition; that when we feel, access, or muster faith in our lives, we constitute a beginning. ——- If you know someone who…

“Our lives are performances—each of us starring in a play we come to know as our own,” observed choreographer and author Twyla Tharp. “[Therefore] essence isn’t just who you are. It’s who you are with other people.” Meaning, if we want to know who we are don’t just look inside, but also “outside” and who…

Yesterday I came across one of my favorite quotes from Brianna Wiest where she describes what she hopes her readers would come to experience in their lives. It is a wonderful question to ask for others and for ourselves: what do we hope for? Here is Wiest’s answer: “I hope you learn to live in…

The morning after a public presidential political assassination attempt is one our nation hasn’t faced since 1981 when John Hinckley attempted to kill Ronald Reagan. I was struck last night, and this morning, how commentators and journalists expressed a hope events would not escalate in the coming days and weeks. Which led me to consider…

The media has underscored the idea of a “revenge tour” over the last few months with former Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy desiring, for example, to eradicate the chances of re-election of those who pushed him from power.  Which got me to thinking, what would be opposite of a revenge tour? An “acquittal tour?”…

In our apartment the laundry room has a sign that reads, FOR BEST RESULTS, USE DETERGENT. Sometimes we need to be reminded of an obvious step required to achieve our “best results.” For a goal you hope to achieve, or even a daily task, what might you substitute in place of “USE DETERGENT”? For best…