By: Jenny Steinbrenner Hale on April 28, 2023
The Journey I’ve been on a journey this week. Leaving Portland last Sunday, I traveled from Oregon through Washington, to Missoula, Montana, where I helped my son, Zeph, pack up his apartment and drive south to California to start a new job and a new life era. Our caravan consisted of one large U-Haul, two…
By: Audrey Robinson on April 27, 2023
I don’t describe myself as seeing the world through a full-glass lens, but I’m also not a half-empty-glass person. Even though this is comparing apples to oranges, glass half full notion compared to the ten reasons we’re wrong outlined in Factfulness, it does represent how I tend to generalize things. But then the generalization instinct…
By: Michael O'Neill on April 26, 2023
Factfulness, by Hans and Anna Rosling Ronnlund, is a book that challenges readers to confront their preconceived notions of the world and its inhabitants. Exploring the facts about global development and poverty reduction shows how even seemingly intractable problems can be addressed in ways that benefit all participants. It also offers insight into decisions based…
By: Daron George on April 26, 2023
Introduction Edwin Friedman’s book, A Failure of Nerve, delves into the complexities of human relationships and the challenges that can arise within them. As I revisit this book for the second time, I’ve decided to focus on a particular paragraph that has captured my attention. In this paragraph, Friedman writes, “Anyone who has ever been…
By: Shonell Dillon on April 26, 2023
The Great Transformation As we sit back and watch the economy change from year to year, one can’t help but wonder what the driving force is. There is constant talk of recession and prices are soaring in every industry. Who or what controls these changes? Some of the answers may become evident in what Polanyi…
By: Alana Hayes on April 24, 2023
Karl Polanyi’s 1944 book “The Great Transformation: The Political and Economic Origins of Our Time” is considered a classic work of economic history… Polanyi argues in this book that the rise of the market economy in nineteenth-century Europe was a deeply political and social process that required significant state intervention, and that the market-led transformation…
By: Alana Hayes on April 23, 2023
Evangelicalism in Modern Britain by D.W. Bebbington Evangelicalism has been at the heart of British society for generations, but its impact, and even its fundamental definition, has shifted in recent decades. D.W. Bebbington’s work “Evangelicalism in Modern Britain” details this intriguing trip. He contends that Evangelicalism’s purpose and character have evolved from an inward concentration…
By: Alana Hayes on April 23, 2023
Max Weber’s work The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism was published in 1905. Weber investigates the relationship between religious ideals and economic development in Western Europe in his book. He believed that Calvinism, with its focus on hard work, delayed gratification, and worldly success, played a significant role in the creation of modern…
By: Alana Hayes on April 23, 2023
Hans Rosling’s book Factfulness takes us on a journey to discover how our world works. He believes that individuals are drawn to tales and headlines that focus on the negative when there is far more positive news in the world than we realize. Rosling invites readers to abandon knee-jerk emotions based on fear, shame, or anger…
By: Audrey Robinson on April 20, 2023
My goal in writing this essay is to provide a different lens on unresolved posttraumatic experiences and how these experiences are a lurking crisis in our society. The first section is a high-level overview of Van Der Kolk’s book. The following section is a personal account of a lived traumatic experience. And lastly, is a…
By: Alana Hayes on April 18, 2023
“We must learn how to turn off our intense reactions and regain control of ourselves so that we can process painful memories without being overwhelmed.” (1) Many of us have been through trauma in our lives, whether as a result of an accident, a crisis, or a traumatic encounter. So what happens once the trauma…
By: Michael O'Neill on April 14, 2023
The Body Keeps the Score The Body Keeps the Score, written by Bessel van der Kolk, MD, is a groundbreaking work on trauma and its lasting effects on individuals throughout their lives. It sheds light on how traumatic experiences can cause physical, emotional, and neurological disturbances that are often deep-seated and complex to untangle. This…
By: Michael O'Neill on April 10, 2023
I was unexpectedly motivated this week by Daniel Nettle’s book, Personality. Psychology in general has never excited me and I negatively anticipated an Enneagram-style survey of some kind that was going to inaccurately “define me,” or accurately define me but I may disagree. I have completed various assessments in the past but find they tend…
By: Audrey Robinson on April 9, 2023
As I read the book and pursued other research on the personality topic, the most influential quote that summarizes the essence of our physical and mental state and how we are wired is Psalm 139:13-16 NLT. 13 You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body and knit me together in my mother’s womb.…
By: Alana Hayes on April 4, 2023
It’s not easy to navigate the murky waters of personality because the reality is that people are messy. We are all imperfect humans trying to make sense of a very convoluted world. People also vary greatly in their characteristics, behaviors, and life experiences which allows for actions and reactions to be shown or expressed differently.…
By: Alana Hayes on April 2, 2023
When I was a little girl I would create maps of our farmland with old napkins left in the truck and designate places that had an important value to me as a child. Whether it be the best spot to dig for worms, the place that denoted a dreaded snake hole, or even an x…
By: Alana Hayes on April 2, 2023
Gendered stereotypes tend to have an innocent until proven guilty vibe and they make me very tired. Let’s start with the line boys are better than girls at sports. My daughter and I would tell you differently. Although her and I’s chosen sports differ.. here are two examples to debunk that awful line with us…
By: Alana Hayes on April 2, 2023
Have you ever wondered what makes that leader different? Why did they stand out among the world? What risks were they able to take than others around them and why? When reading his book for the second time I couldn’t help but compare everything my husband and I have gone through within starting our own…
By: Alana Hayes on April 2, 2023
Peter G. Northouse’s book “Leadership – Theory and Practice” is widely regarded as one of the most comprehensive and robust publications on leadership. It presents an overview of many leadership theories, approaches, and views while highlighting the importance of situational context in successful leadership. The book examines power and influence, motivation, communication, decision-making, conflict resolution,…
By: Alana Hayes on March 31, 2023
Stephen King’s book “On Writing – A Memoir of the Craft” is both a book on his writing craft and a personal account of his long career as a master storyteller. The author takes readers on an intimate journey through his writing problems, creative process, and insights into being a successful writer in today’s competitive…