Thoughts for the Holidays Archives

Why Silence is Good … and Bad

August 24, 2010 by Ocean Palmer 2 Comments

I was in a client meeting this morning, the only one born early enough to understand the significance of Neil Armstrong’s July 20, 1969 walk on the moon. The moon really isn’t that far away—only about 240,000 miles—and many business travelers fly farther than that each year. But back in the late 1960s when the […]

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How to Develop Patience & Why It Matters

July 26, 2010 by Ocean Palmer Leave a Comment

Patience is the capacity for waiting—an admirable quality that helps us tolerate the gap between what we have and what we want without becoming upset. The word patience originated from Latin, from pati, which means to endure, bear or suffer. People these days don’t study dead languages like Latin; they’re too busy and don’t have […]

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The Daily Dozen

June 9, 2010 by Ocean Palmer Leave a Comment

I received an electronic note yesterday from a fellow I worked with more than a decade ago. Ours is a professional relationship rather than a personal one, so what he wrote really hit home. He recalled something I taught in a seminar perhaps fifteen years ago. It hit home with him and he embraced it. […]

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For Whom the Bell Tolls

May 14, 2010 by Ocean Palmer Leave a Comment

Somewhere in suburban Los Angeles a tall, balding middle-aged man lies in an ICU hospital bed, tethered to an octopus of medical necessity. He is dealing with multiple organ failure; his liver is shot and kidneys need dialysis help. At 57, life as he knew it is over. How he got into this predicament doesn’t […]

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Why Love Hurts

April 27, 2010 by Ocean Palmer Leave a Comment

“Treat people like kings and kings like people and you’ll get along with everybody.” — Muhammad Ali A friend recently dropped me a note, curious for my take on why romantic breakups takes such a tough emotional toll. There are, I believe, three behavioral nuances that blend to create seasickness between-the-ears following a disrupted romance. […]

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Why April 15 is Income Tax Day

April 14, 2010 by Ocean Palmer Leave a Comment

Today, April 15, is Tax Day, a tradition less than a century old. During our nation’s infancy the United States government raised revenue easily; it taxed whiskey and tobacco. Since we’ve always been a consumer-driven society, they collected a whole lot. For many years the sin tax money covered most of the government’s expenses. But […]

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A Small Box from the Postman

April 10, 2010 by Ocean Palmer Leave a Comment

I was working at home Thursday afternoon when the postman rang. I opened the door and had to sign for a small box he was holding. While surprised to see him I knew what was inside. I signed and printed my name, accepted the box, and took it back to my office. Instead of opening […]

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How to Get Closure

March 17, 2010 by Ocean Palmer Leave a Comment

Ah, the dictionary’s most dreaded seven-letter word, defined thusly: “noun. A permanent end of business. Barring of access. A sense of finality.” Real life’s definition is never so simple. Real life defines closure as something we do to others before they do it to us, on a full sprint en route to running and hiding. […]

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Footprints or Buttprints

January 22, 2010 by Ocean Palmer 2 Comments

I am a boomer, the second of four children, produced the impulsive New Year’s revelry of tipsy parents. My brother, two sisters, and I remain close. Our parents are long gone but childhood memories are warm. The teen years, well, they’re fodder for another column. I was an awestruck, seventh-grade towhead when I flew on […]

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Absent Friends (A Vital Part of the Holiday Season)

December 28, 2009 by Ocean Palmer 1 Comment

Living a rich, full life has its rewards and, of course, its challenges. As 2009 and the first decade of the new millennium winds down, it’s good to pause during the holiday season to reflect on those we’ve known who aren’t around to celebrate a new harvest of mistletoe. Each is famous—to us—and deserves the […]

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