The average 4-year-old laughs 300 times a day; a 40-year-old, only four.

When I first read that statistic, on a blog called Ageing Healthily, Happily, and Youthfully, I found the 300 times a day number a bit high. But then I thought about my 5-year-old nephew, Bob....

Sometimes I do a particular kind of contemplation. Taking the view that events in the "outer" world may be understood as a reflection of both my own inner psyche and our national and global collective consciousness, I ask myself, "If this were a dream, what would it mean?" Then I...

The other day, as I was dusting off a little glass shelf that had been my mother's, I inadvertently bumped one of the tiny figurines on it -- one of a set of blue and white china elephants she had once given me. The disturbance sent all the beloved creatures...

I have modified this post slightly to respond to and incorporate feedback from comments received to the original post. Many thanks to all who are contributing to the conversation. --Pamela

While the killing of Osama Bin Laden is being enthusiastically celebrated throughout America and some parts of the world, to...

With the arrival of 2011, we would do well to recognize the future when we see it. For this reason, Arianna's recent blogs, South American Diary, Chile: More Than Miners Are Being Rescued and It Might Be Time to Rebrand It the South American Dream, are...

Last week, Senator Jim Webb posted a column discussing the need to reform our criminal justice system.

To help Senator Webb find a bipartisan solution to fixing our broken system, I'd like to suggest a relatively simple, practical, and actually cost-saving way to begin: Start by changing our...

Today, after yesterday's election and Barack Obama's resounding victory, the world is in a whole new reality. Now people know, deep in their awareness, that anything is possible. That conviction, now embedded in the consciousness of humanity, has already changed us; ultimately, it will fundamentally change the world.

On election...

Here's a magazine cover I'd like to see: a simple shot of Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin giving her acceptance speech to the cheering convention delegates. Superimposed over the photo are headshots of media pundits with their swooning sound bytes, atop a caption that reads: What's wrong with this...

With all the talk of Hillary Clinton becoming Barack Obama's running mate, let's pause for a moment to push out the brain fog. The sane truth is: It should not happen. Here's why:

Of course there are all the usual arguments against it, e.g., Hillary's Iraq war vote; her assassination...

"Most men occasionally stumble over the truth, but most pick themselves up and continue as if nothing happened." -- Winston Churchill

Churchill's words about the human propensity to ignore the truth that is right in front of us reminds me of the mainstream media's response to Senator Obama's speech...

In February, when Barack Obama was at the height of his winning streak, Tom Foreman of CNN's Washington Bureau, wrote:

"One highly experienced Democratic insider told me that the Old Guard of the party is utterly confused by the appeal of Obama -- by the oceans of young people,...