A COMPASSIONATE DISPOSITION

        Recently, an exceptional writer and friend, Dr. Harvey Mindess, past away. Much of his written work focused on the psychology of humor, and perhaps his most noted book, LAUGHTER AND LIBERATION, continues to be used in college courses across the country today. In a piece on Hawaiian humor (Humor in Hawaii: Past and Present), he wrote:

       "Humor is flexibility's twin, while political correctness, for all its virtues, contains a streak of rigidity too obvious to be ignored."

       During his life, he always returned to the themes of tolerance, acceptance, and the cultivation of the inward (and outward) capacity to not take ourselves too seriously, or our own beliefs as a Gospel with which to condemn others. In essence, he lived life with a generosity of spirit that ignited a flame in my heart, too -- one to which I return when I find my spirit dragging its tail feathers under the more-than-a-little-disheartening experiences I can best summarize as akin to watching the six o'clock news on almost any day.

       And in this time of political strife, with far-too-strident voices dominating the airwaves, thank goodness for those like my dear and deeply-missed friend, Harvey Mindess who, unlike so many of today's politicians and pundits, could find a little humor in their every day, could laugh at themselves, and could offer a compassionate disposition to others.

Until next time,

With My Best,

Darryl