Who knows why seemingly insignificant (at least in the moment) sensory experiences become associative triggers for the rest of our life? Why does a specific smell, sound, vision, taste or emotion immediately take us back to another place and time?…
This story could go on forever, but here’s the abbreviated version. A young woman walks into a trendy downtown bistro and grabs a stool at the bar. She possesses an almost unnatural beauty, at once alluring and intimidating. She’s appears…
So I’m sitting by myself in a corner of this dimly lit, old-timey New York bar, on a maroon leather bench seat leaning against the wall with a bar-height, round oak table and three empty barstools between me and a…
by Stuart Greenbaum There’s battle lines being drawn Nobody’s right if everybody’s wrong It’s time we stop, hey, what’s that sound Everybody looks what’s going down. -- Stephen Stills (“For What It’s Worth” by Buffalo Springfield) Everyone is aging; some…
The paperback Anthony Bourdain: The Last Interview and Other Conversations was an impulse buy at Target. (That’s redundant, I know.) What happened next was less predictable. As the youngish cashier scanned the book, she looked up and sighed, “He inspired…
Humble Sky, the title and theme of this blog, observes that humankind need only look skyward to appreciate the obvious limit of our comprehension; and further, that this universal reality check should encourage us to be more curious and more…
If only, when people hear Joe South sing “Walk a mile in my shoes,” his poetic and encouraging metaphor for empathy would move all who “abuse, criticize and accuse.” And, if only, older adults were among the highest regarded beneficiaries…
Hypocrisy is dead. Good riddance, right? Except … the loss is exposing a hazardous void, like a sewer manhole without a cover. So, how did this happen: the passing of hypocrisy, which served with such distinction as the universally scorned…
Time will tell how our actions now will impact our descendants’ future. In such hindsight, there’s a good chance that when now becomes then, the story of this period of American history will, literally, not be too flattering. The Roman…
Deniers control the climate change debate. Not because they’re right. Any sentient human being knows they’re dead wrong. Rather it’s because deniers have established the debate ground rules. Labeling scientific reports as hoaxes, they alternately argue that regulations and costs…
Humble Sky takes issue with our incomprehension of farthest outer space — literally and metaphorically to advance the virtues of curiosity and humility. More down to Earth, the weekly essays intend to provoke thought on subject matters ranging from culture and politics, to longevity and philosophy, to film & TV, music and sports.
Lead writer Stuart Greenbaum is a veteran public relations counselor, and editor or author of more than a dozen journals and books, including Longevity Rules, Set Straight on Bullies and Educated Public Relations.