by Phil Houseal | Feb 16, 2022 | All Articles, Philosophy
Feb 16, 2022–Why is it so hard to receive a gift? Many of us are unwilling and unable to accept anything freely offered. There is a stoicism in some, a feeling of low self-worth in others, or the impression that a gift equals charity. None of these are true. I myself...
by Phil Houseal | Feb 9, 2022 | All Articles, Philosophy
Feb 9, 2022–My first inkling that I was a product of “white bread” culture came in 8th grade. We had a student teacher assigned to our small rural Iowa school. He was from New York, so to us he might as well have been a Martian. The incident: He chided me in front of...
by Phil Houseal | Feb 2, 2022 | All Articles, Philosophy
2/2/2022–I can’t remember any answer I ever got correct on any test. But I remember every one I got wrong. It proves the lesson I read in a fortune cookie: “People learn little from success, but much from failure.” I’ll bet you can remember your own wrong answers....
by Phil Houseal | Jan 26, 2022 | All Articles, Philosophy
Jan 26, 2022–Many of us are reaching the point in life where we need to start shedding possessions. It’s time to clean out closets, barns, and sheds, and offload old clothes, tools, and boxes of Christmas ornaments. But while discussing this with a group of gentlemen...
by Phil Houseal | Jan 19, 2022 | All Articles, Philosophy
Jan 19, 2022–When I feel stressed about life situations, I use a trick: I imagine I am the main character in a novel. What would I want the protagonist to do next? Silly, but it has some logic. By putting yourself inside your own novel, it places you one step removed...
by Phil Houseal | Jan 12, 2022 | History, Philosophy
Jan 12, 2022–While coming up with a topic for this week’s column, I became discouraged. Here’s why: No one bothers to read anymore. We are all tik-tokked and insta-ed to within an inch of our attention span. A few weeks ago I wrote what I thought was a brilliant...
