Dec
15
I believe being open minded is a good thing. I use to believe there was a reason behind being open minded. It was so you could find the truth. Once you found the truth, whether in science, religion, relationships, etc. then you didn’t need to have that part of your mind open any longer. You could close that door while continuing to be open minded in other areas. And I still believe there is some truth to that at times. I just no longer believe it is THE reason. It’s just one of many reasons.
Another great reason to be open minded is so you can experience joy and wonder. No other reason is necessary in that case. You don’t have to have a plan or a purpose or an agenda to exploit the joy and wonder into the future. You can just experience it.
What reasons do you have for being open minded? What have been the results for you, both good and bad?
Drawing and commentary by Marty Coleman, the most talented left-handed man he knows.
Quote by Gerry Spence, 1929-not dead yet, American attorney and writer
May
18
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Yesterday the ‘Aha Moment Tour 2010′ came to Tulsa and I was invited to tell the Napkin Dad story. They are sponsored by Mutual of Omaha Insurance Company. You may have seen the ‘Aha Moments’ commercials on TV. They are going around the country in a very cool Airstream RV videotaping people talking about their ‘Aha moment’ in life. They will post them on their website throughout the summer. When they are done people can vote on the ones they would like to see put on TV. I will let you know when the video is up.
When I arrived at the RV there was a young woman, Kait, charged with checking me in. We had to wait while the person in front of me was interviewed so she asked me to tell a little bit about my aha moment. She had a wonderful look in her eyes as I told the story. When I was done she sheepishly told me it reminded her of something her father had done.
She said “of course, it is nothing like what you did”, and then she told the story. ”He would leave for work very early in the morning, before I was awake. But he would always leave a little folded note for me outside my bedroom door. It wasn’t fancy, just a note saying he loved me, or maybe to remember to do something, like homework or be good. I remember that it was always the first thing I would do every morning, get up and go read my note. I was always so excited to get that note.”
The only false note in that story is about it not being like what I did. IT IS EXACTLY LIKE WHAT I DID! It has the same immeasurable amount of love, thought and care from her father as what I gave. He didn’t do it like I did, but that has nothing to do with the worth of his expression. He loved his daughter and expressed it as only he could, with his creativity, mind and heart. And guess what? She kept them too.
The first and best ‘Aha Moment’ for every child is when they realize they are loved. They don’t want to be loved by me, or some TV star or some cartoon character. They want to be loved by their mother and father. If you are a mother or father who finds a way, YOUR way, to express to your children that they are loved, then you are the best agent of love the world has ever known. If you aren’t that mother or father yet, no time like the present to become one.
Drawing, quote and commentary by Marty Coleman of The Napkin Dad Daily
Apr
08
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My wife and I had my unwife and my daughter over for dinner last night. We talked a lot about our various family members, some doing well, some doing not so well. Some battling cancer, some exploding with opportunities of a brand new life ahead. Some in hard jobs, some dealing with very difficult situations. We talked about someone dear to all of us, and the sadness we feel with how that life has gone, it fills us with sorrow at times. Sharing that amongst ourselves diminished the sorrow a bit, knowing others are feeling what you are feeling.
We remembered back, talking about when we were young. Remembering a mother who is no longer with us, a home we used to live in, a funny story of growing up. I told of getting an email recently from a friend of one of my daughters. The friend wrote of her remembrances of our household, it’s fun and light. She is grown now and just wanted to share her gratefulness and joy when she thought back on it. That joy was doubled and tripled and quadrupled because of her willingness to share it.
You want joy and sorrow in their proper place in your life? Share them both.
Quote is a Swedish Proverb.
Mar
17
Happy St. Patrick’s Day to you all!
I don’t subscribe to the ‘abiding sense of tragedy’ idea. But I, as well as many others of Irish descent, do share a great sense of irony about life. It might be because I know that bad things will happen. I know that disease will come somewhere, accidents will come somewhere, heartbreak, loneliness, betrayal, setbacks, plans delayed. All that happens in real life.I have experienced it many times, from being blown up when I was 18 and burned on 70% of my body to my mother almost dying from a brain hemorrhage and spending 9 months in the hospital to a divorce to a family member having serious emotional and mental issues. But what family doesn’t have tragedy? I am not unique in any way in that regard.
What I think the quote is really saying is that tragedy doesn’t destroy me. I know it will come and I take it as it is given, as part of life. I don’t like it, I do my best to avoid it, but I know I ultimately can’t, just as I can’t avoid the ultimate step in life, the end of it.
The great thing about knowing this is that it allows me to face reality head on. I am not afraid of it because I am familiar with it. It’s not exactly a friend, but it is an acquaintance I am on speaking terms with. And as a result I can go about my business with my other friends and acquaintances; love, joy, happiness, humor and passion in confidence, knowing tragedy isn’t my only companion.
Quote by W. B. Yeats, 1865-1939, Irish Poet. Winner of the 1923 Nobel Prize for Literature
Feb
13
>Yes, this is a blatantly Valentine’s Day napkin.
Compatibility matters. Mutual interests matter. Attraction matters. But nothing matters like working for your partner’s happiness. Nothing brings
about joy like realizing that what brings your partner happiness is something
within your grasp to give.
That’s a blissful moment of love.
Drawing and commentary by Marty Coleman of The Napkin Dad Daily
Quote by Robert Heinlein, 1907-1988, American author
