Is Small Talk A Big Help In Making Friends?

by Kevin Burton    Are we going today from sublime to ridiculous?  Or is that just my bias?    Yesterday we ran part of a Los Angeles Times story about making friends in our adult years. We finish that story, by reporter Seraphina Seow today.    Psychologists interviewed by The Times, offered five suggestions for …

Rediscovering The Lost Art Of Making Friends

by Seraphina Seow Los Angeles Times    A friend of mine has been hoping to make new friends as a 26-year-old. She’s made every effort to put herself out there: joined clubs, volunteered, initiated catch-ups.    But every time she establishes a new connection, it wanes after a few weeks. She suspects that it may be …

Things Get Better With Age, If You Let Them

By Hannah Singleton National Geographic      While aging is often portrayed as a slow decline, scientists say that view overlooks the bigger picture.    “Everyone talks about aging as this decline,” said Michelle Feng, chief clinical officer at Executive Mental Health and a licensed psychologist who specializes in geriatric psychology and medicine. “But aging …

Lean, Pray, Trust, Love, Just A Little Bit More

by Kevin Burton    I needed this today and I thought some of you might need it too.    This message is written on a 4-by-7 sheet of paper, not attached to anything else. I have it because I have helped my mother move three times in the last seven or eight years. Mom downsized …

Barratt Is First Blind Woman To Swim Channel

by Andy Corbley Good News Network    A Paralympic gold medalist has become the first blind woman to swim across the English Channel, and she finished under time.    Melanie Barratt took on the challenge after falling in love with open-water swimming.    She said that being blind has left her feeling “isolated,” but thanks …

How Greek Mythology Slips Into Everyday Life

by Dictionary Scoop    Have you ever noticed how many everyday words go back to Greek mythology? Sure, we have the more obvious ones—like “narcissist” or “nemesis”—but you might find in this list terms that you didn’t know were so old. 1-Tantalizing    Remember the story of Tantalus? He was a king who tried to fool the gods and …

Heart And Seoul: A S. Korean Dating Solution

by Kevin Burton    More than 2,000 single South Koreans are turning to local government today. to improve their love lives.    It’s called “Romance, Art Night,” a mass blind-date event organized by the city of Seoul, South Korea. This is the second such event. In November the city held “Romance In Han River.” Twenty-seven …

One Last Try, For the Love Of The Music

by Kevin Burton    It is very much like me that I saved a fortune cookie message which reads: “share your musical talents generously, for they are a gift to others.”    Saved it even though I know sayings in cookies from my favorite Chinese restaurant can be amusing, but they are not messages.    …

Weighing Philippians 1:21 “To Live Is Christ”

by Kevin Burton    When people think of you, what comes first to their mind? Or asked another way, what should  go into the first paragraph of your obituary?    I’m asking these questions today in the context of devotion to Christ, and Phil. 1:21 where the Apostle Paul writes “For to me to live …

Blind Lawyer Pioneer Fought For The Disabled

by Kevin Burton     Here’s the story of a woman I had never heard of before, who could and should be put on a US postage stamp.    As a woman and a disabled person, she was way ahead of her time in effectively fighting the good fight for marginalized people. May God bless any …