by Artie Isaac | Mar 29, 2020 | Living an engaged life, Poetry
I wrote this today on a Zoom call with Rabbi Sharon Mars and her Congregants from Temple Israel of Columbus, during a conversation about Mussar and worry. After writing this, I see that many have suggested scheduling time for worry. There are many online resources for...
by Artie Isaac | Mar 29, 2020 | Coaching Topics, Living an engaged life, New Competence, Poetry
Hello, friends. I hope that you and yours are healthy and resilient. For your consideration, here are three thoughts that might help place this experience in a broader context. 1. This might be your Crucible Moment — the maximum challenge that tempers you for your...
by Artie Isaac | Mar 24, 2020 | Living an engaged life, Poetry
What Care Of Nature? Deer leap our fence, to graze the early springtime grass. I had missed how predictable their comings and goings, as if a daily commute from the Glen to our yards and back. Birds cross above, on flight plans I’d underlooked, with not prey in...
by Artie Isaac | Mar 10, 2020 | Uncategorized
Is it just me, or does it feel kind of apocalyptic around here? What feels to you like a harbinger of the end? Politics? Virus? Environment? Buffoons? Markets? What are you doing about this crazy world? What are you doing about it? Here’s a suggestion. Make a...
by Artie Isaac | Feb 17, 2020 | Coaching Topics, Living an engaged life, New Competence, Uncategorized
“I don’t like telling adults what to do.” I have said that many times. Usually, it’s part of an answer to the question: “Why didn’t you enjoy owning a business?” I answer, “Why didn’t I enjoy owning a business?...
by Artie Isaac | Feb 10, 2020 | Coaching Topics, Leading Peer Groups, Living an engaged life, New Competence, On Ethics
Years ago, a teacher of mine, Ed Burghard — the very first time we met — told me about his Handshake Document. “When I shake your hand,” Ed said, “I automatically make these promises.” He handed me a sheet of paper. The paper described the...
by Artie Isaac | Jan 19, 2020 | Coaching Topics, Living an engaged life
When we turned 50, death was undoubtedly closer than birth. Any mathematician can multiply by two. And I’m not betting on living to my hundredth birthday. Even closer — closer than death — is the date when the world will stop seeing us. We will still...
by Artie Isaac | Jan 15, 2020 | Uncategorized
When I dream I can fly, I awake buoyant, fresh from swimming in the air. Waking from nightmares is gruesome. My nightmares are either chase scenarios, where I am hunted, or failure scenarios, where I am ill-prepared, incompetent, or unethical. From those nightmares, I...
by Artie Isaac | Oct 28, 2019 | Living an engaged life, On Creativity
John Cremer taught me about listening last week. I’d already learned about Active Listening. John raised the stakes. During his session on improvisation, he described the keys to improvisation on stage, in business, and in life. The first key was listening. (For...
by Artie Isaac | Oct 21, 2019 | Living an engaged life, On Creativity
No one means to write poetry for dogs. I meant to write an essay for a new group, The 2020 Club. The members take turns presenting an essay on a topic that is not the essayist’s work. It was my turn to write and deliver an essay. It turned out that the essay —...
