Author: Keith Howard
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What Lies Beneath the Current
Ocean’s Depth January 25, 2021 Dear Hope Nation, As is often the case, I’m willing to embrace a metaphor without fully understanding the original image. In rhetoric, metaphors have two parts, the tenor (the subject of the metaphor) and the vehicle (the thing the tenor is compared to). For example, in the sentence: As a…
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My Relationship To Music
Dear Hope Nation, Saturday was the first day of a music group at Hope. Not a musical group like The Four Tops, The Four Seasons or Three Dog Night, but a music group, which will ultimately lead to music, but the first meeting was more talking. One of the first questions asked was, “What is your relationship…
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Self Interview II
Dear Hope Nation, This afternoon at 2, I’ll be part of the birth of a renaissance. I hope. And, yes, I know “birth of a renaissance” means birth of a rebirth, which sounds like I’m starting a new cult. I’m not. The music meeting is at 2, and I know I’ll see many of you…
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Mocking My Betters
Dear Hope Nation, I have a simple love of poetry—I like what I like and I ignore what I don’t. For instance, I like A.E. Housman way more than any other straight American male I’ve ever met. His plangent tone brings actual tears to my eyes, although they’ve never moistened my face. To most contemporary…
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Dear Hope Nation,
I’m excited, and you should be too. Really. This Saturday at 2 pm you’re invited to be part of something big, something bold and something that matters. You have the opportunity to express who you are. Before I continue, let me give you the Zoom address: Join Zoom Meeting https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84988260894?pwd=OC93UkdhZlBvcmhWaUJwT3FsdndSZz09 Saturday at 2 pm, Matt…
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Inauguration Day
Dear Hope Nation, I am an American. Today is a holiday, although not one that involves gifts or candy or days off work. Before the pandemic, it did involve parades of a sort, or at least large crowds. Today’s quadrennial celebration will be different in appearance, but not in substance. On Inauguration Day we don’t simply recognize…
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Ideas Are Dangerous Things
Dear Hope Nation, Reading books is dangerous, and I recommend against it. When I read—and here I mean real, challenging books, not just novels or history which take up most of my time—I’m forced to confront new ideas. New ideas are always dangerous, and I recommend against them. Introduced to new ideas, because I’m cursed…
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“Do your little bit of good where you are”
Dear Hope Nation, Happy Birthday, Dr. King! Happy Dr. King’s Birthday to everyone else! Every few weeks, these letters consist of quotes from people wiser than I on topics deeper than my understanding. Luckily, neither is difficult to find. In honor of today’s holiday, here are some meaningful quotes on peace: “When I say it’s…
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If You Say So
Dear Hope Nation, I don’t know what your recovery looks like, and, unless you want to tell me about it, it’s really none of my business. My role, and the role of all recovery coaches, is to support your journey no matter what path you’ve chosen. If that path’s not working for you, or if…
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Economics
Dear Hope Nation, I was in a meeting yesterday where the topic of drugs, particularly methamphetamines, came up. (I’m in meetings every day where the topic of drugs comes up.) One of the speakers talked about the necessity of closing our country’s borders and going after Mexican cartels to reduce the supply. Those may or…
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Art and Music
January 15, 2021 Dear Hope Nation, Hope is a lot of things. Today, I want to talk about two of them. Before anyone accuses me of playing favorites because of any particular ability or interest on my part, let me explain a few things. If the topic were ping-pong, one might have a case. At…
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Malagasy Proverbs
Dear Hope Nation, Before the pandemic, I really liked to travel. While I’ve written extensively about a couple trips to England, my favorite geography to visit is desert. I’m not a big God guy, but I will say I feel closest to my best self when I’m wandering the desert, whether Californian, Arizonan, Nevadan or,…
Tiny White Box--Thoughts on Life, Death, Recovery, and Other Mundane Topics 