Note from Gillian: Home of the Brave
It is a revealing hallmark of a culture to see what bravery represents. In America, the dominant online image is a Disney animation of a young girl facing illustrated threats. Then there is the Atlanta baseball team or a Web Browser or actors representing cartoon action characters always fighting a fictional threat to civilization as we know it.
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Read MoreNote from Gillian: Where are the Heroes and Heroines Today?
Literature, history, and entertainment have elevated individuals, both human as well as fictionalized, to characterize the attributes of those of a hero: bravery, integrity, an indomitable will and the drive to accomplish great deeds. From the Greek legends that a hero was an individual of more than human qualities and favored by the gods like Hercules and Achilles,
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Read MoreNote from Gillian: The Evolution of Communication
Throughout the ages, communication has been the lifeblood of all cultures. Communication has continued to be the exchange of ideas and traditions, the transfer of knowledge and art. Communication has built bonds and supported the evolution of civilization as well as devolved into conflict and turmoil.
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Read MoreNote from Gillian: The Power of the Story
The history of storytelling goes back thousands of years. The early cave dwellers used pigment from their local plants to decorate their walls to preserve their successes, traditions, and often challenges. The necessity to share ideas, preserve philosophies,
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Read MoreNote from Gillian: The Power of Thanks
All cultures evolve, some devolve, with new goals, morals, standards, freedoms and restrictions. Some who participate in these evolutions approach changes from different perspectives. There are the Rebels, who for the sake of their own passion or vision,
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Read MoreNote from Gillian: A Matter of Perspective
Running a mountain ridge provides numerous benefits: crisp, fresh air, endless space out over the ocean to the south and out over rugged smokey mountain ranges to the north, a place where one’s thoughts can flow uninterrupted,
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Read MoreNote from Gillian: Lessons from The Pond: The Pause
Throughout history, throughout lives, many have found a sanctuary where they can take a step back, reflect and rejuvenate. In this sanctuary, be it on a mountaintop or on a boat, a quiet corner of a marbled museum,
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Read MoreNote from Gillian: R-E-S-P-E-C-T
Philosophical inspiration can spring from an eclectic variety of sources; from the reflection of a full moon over the Pacific Ocean to the genuine words of wisdom shared by your five-year-old, to a movie that captures the challenges and successes of an individual who stayed true to her dream and visions.
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Read MoreNote from Gillian: A Renaissance of Civility
Through the millennia, species have evolved, adjusting to their environment, adjusting their environment to themselves. Many species survived by force, by their speed, by their agility. Others continued their existence by migration, by transformation, possibly by luck.
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Read MoreNote from Gillian: The Dependence of Independence
Yes, in 1776, the 13 colonies declared their independence from England, creating a new model of government that shifted power from the monarchy to the citizens; of the people, by the people, for the people. Freedoms were instilled in the model as rights of the individual to avoid future tyrannical dominance.
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