Art does not exist in a vacuum. It is about life and living, after all.

I’m taking an informal poll, and would appreciate your opinion.

Are adult children responsible for their elderly parents? Yes? No?

Is providing care for a parent a duty, ethical obligation, or a deep existential moral need?

Sooner or later, most will confront this issue and these questions. 

It’s well worth noting again on this day to not only remember the veterans in your prayers, but to support those still with us in whatever way you can muster.

Liberty has, for unfortunate reasons, always come into political existence for a price: blood.

While it would be stupid to ignore nefarious intentions by radical unhinged groups, it is also dangerous to willingly give up privacy and hard-earned freedoms to cast a wide net in an attempt to apprehend a few sociopaths. National security in its highest form is about not giving into fear—but ‘security’ at any price is no security at all. Each veteran who paid the price knows that all too well. Freedom means more responsibility, not less.

Repeating things, such as phrases, especially when taken out of context, without investigating its veracity, cannot lead to original art, or thinking for that matter.

Is ignorance bliss?

Does misery love company?

Many are called; few are chosen. Many of us have heard this statement. It is, however, incorrect in practice. If you’ve been doing your work as a true artist you know that it is this: many are called; few choose to go.

While the lyric or cliche that ‘the best is yet to come’ may sound harmonic, nostalgic, or even prophetic, it is, in truth, misleading.

The best (a word I refrain from misusing) is now, in the present moment of your existence. And yes, it is the little things, those ordinary moments, that you recall as the treasures of your life.

It is not by accident that the master said: “It is better to live in fulfillment than in hope.”

Consider this: the ‘best’ may be happening this very instant—which is also the source of all great art. 

More than fifty years ago, pioneer researcher Abraham Maslow recognized the importance of ‘studying’ the healthy people, those who were self realized.

Are you fascinated with mental pathology, serial killers, gossip, roadside accidents—name your grisly scene? It’s clear that most in our culture are swept away to support such aspects of social behavior.

If you want to excel above the mundane, to evolve beyond social conditioning, choose your model carefully and with restraint.