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I’ve found Mr. Harden’s bloggers rule to be true.

That said, there is much more that we agree on than disagree on. And I know the things we do disagree on we could discuss rationally because of the respect for each other built on top of that which we agree on.

Times are more than a little tough right now for many. We could all use a bit of fresh thinking and words of hope. For this reason, I’ve reduced the Kindle price of my books Enough and This Could Help to $2.99 for the time being. I sincerely believe both will help.

Family Resemblance Project

Over the course of three years, adoptee Eric Mueller invited hundreds of people into his studio to be photographed, asking them what family—and family resemblance—means to them.

My father, daughter, and I are happy to be included in this.

“Oh no! It’s a poem titled ‘What’s In The Sack’. Can you guess what it doesn’t answer? What’s in the sack! You had one job!”

— Beatrix, age 12, will judge your poem by the cover too. Even if you are Shel Silverstein.

This Is Not That

A maple tree is not an ash tree. Sure, they are both trees. They may be similar but that does not make them the same.

A motorcycle is not a car. They are both modes of transportation but they are not the same.

Cars are not guns and guns are not cars. While people often will compare how many one harms versus the other, one is designed for transportation and the other for inflicting harm. While cars can harm people by accident or with specific intent, that is a side effect, not its purpose, which is transportation from one point to the next. A gun is designed and built with one specific purpose in mind, to cause damage — to an object, and animal, or even a human being.

I am not you. You are not me. Though we are both human beings, we are unique. We think differently. What works for me may not work for you. Comparing us in anything but broad hazy strokes is foolish.

The United States is not Sweden. What works there is not what works here. In fact, we now know it might not be working very well there.

Covid-19 is not the flu. It is not H1N1. It is not automobile accidents or cancer.

We want this to be like that. Because if there’s an answer to that it might be an answer to this. But things are what they are.

In the case of a virus that has brought the world to a halt, we long so much for a solution that we seek similarities. I get it. How we learn is from the lessons gained from that which we’ve encountered before. But, here’s the problem…

This is “novel”. We’ve not encountered this before. Just because we did this for that it does not mean we can do that for this.

We have to gain fresh knowledge about this. We have to learn and adapt as we go. Comparing this to anything else risks leading us down the wrong path. Now is the time to forge new paths. This is new. This is not that.