In Plato’s Apology, Socrates asserts that the unexamined life is not worth living. While that may be a bit of an overstatement, many of us have learned during the course of our lives that self-examination that has real depth is a virtue that pays impressive dividends. We understand ourselves better, gain genuine insight, and, one […]
This I Believe New England
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This I Believe New England – Clearing The View
All of us carry family memories as we travel through life. Some may be laugh-out-loud funny, poignant, or heartwarming. Others, sadly, may be painful and filled with anguish. The reality, of course, is that most of our lives are filled with a mix of memories that put broad smiles on our faces and fill our eyes with tears. Whatever […]
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This I Believe New England – Rhode Island Free Clinic
Health care is such a loaded and complicated topic. All of us are concerned about access to primary care physicians and specialists when our bodies don’t behave the way we want. The most fortunate among us have a doctor we can call when we need one. But many in our community fall between the proverbial cracks and […]
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This I Believe New England – Strength From Trauma
No one wants trauma in their lives. We don’t want a spouse to die suddenly. We don’t want cancer diagnoses. We don’t want to be the victim of an armed robbery or a serious car accident. Yet, we know that life is filled with perils, and throughout our journey some are likely to come our way, no matter our […]
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This I Believe New England – Life to the Fullest
All of us have spent time contemplating death—perhaps our own, perhaps the death of those we love. Throughout history, scholars, poets, philosophers, and theologians have opined about death—its mystery, its elusiveness, its ineffability. We’ve heard from Shakespeare, Mark Twain, Aristotle, Edgar Allan Poe, and countless others. Today we hear from 13-year-old Ava Giardino. Ava Giardino is a student […]
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This I Believe New England – Neighbors
Life in Rhode Island and south coast Massachusetts communities is so full of texture, replete with culture, ethnic diversity, topography, and cuisine that are so unique to the region. No place is perfect, of course, but so many of us extol the virtues of the lives we lead in this little corner of the world. Some of […]
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This I Believe New England – Love Saves
Emotional despair is a tough subject. No one wants it. Some don’t want to hear about it. Yet, we know that emotional distress is both common and deeply troubling – to those who suffer the moment-to-moment angst and to those who love and care about them. For many who struggle, there is no quick fix, no magical bolus. But we […]
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This I Believe New England – Still a Purpose
Perhaps it sounds trite to say that health crises produce much-needed wake-up calls for those of us who need to make significant lifestyle adjustments. But for many, this is a truism. I suppose there’s nothing like awakening in an intensive care unit – surrounded by loved ones and scurrying professionals – to send that compelling and poignant […]
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This I Believe New England – Homelessness
All of us have seen the signs of homelessness throughout our local communities, both literally and figuratively. We’ve encountered people standing in the rain and snow at the end of highway exit ramps. We’ve walked past people crouched in doorways as we head to the theater or a restaurant. We’ve listened to the plaintive sounds of a worn […]
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This I Believe New England – Domestic Violence
Think about the word family. It seems so simple. All of us come from one, at least at the very start of our journey on this planet. Some of us sustain those ties in deeply satisfying ways that last for many decades: rich emotional connection, nurture and succor, support in times of crisis, joy and celebration along the […]
