by Dr. Chris Johnson | Sep 1, 2024 | Consciousness, Learning, Mindfulness
I don’t know about you, but when I check my financial portfolio to see how it’s doing, I feel dopamine dread if the numbers go down or a surge of dopamine delight if the numbers go up from one quarter to the next. If they’re down, it’s clear that the...
by Dr. Chris Johnson | Aug 1, 2024 | Consciousness, Mindfulness, Practice
It came to me as a surprise, the sudden awareness of my felt need for rest. I had known the year would be full of challenges, what with the bumps and scrapes of being newly married, the on-the-ground care in support for my parents; with my dad’s ill health and...
by Dr. Chris Johnson | May 1, 2024 | Consciousness, Learning, Mindfulness, Resilience
Dad loved his cars. Out in the back of the barn, he had old cars he claimed he’d ‘fix up one day.’ There was a ’40 Ford Coupe, ’56 Mercury Montclair, and the ’63 Ford Falcon that he and my Mom took cross country to Nova Scotia for their 25th...
by Dr. Chris Johnson | Nov 1, 2023 | Attention, Consciousness, Mindfulness
Are you aware of a constant low-grade hum that’s always present? The tension of that hum seems more pronounced right now. Across from my kitchen table, there’s a pastel drawing. It’s a cornucopia, a horn of plenty drawn by me, years ago while I was in a pastels...
by Dr. Chris Johnson | Aug 1, 2023 | Consciousness, Learning, Mindfulness
My first trip to New York City more than 20 years ago proved a bust. I’d wanted to see the Statue of Liberty, but going in January, during a big, smelly garbage strike, with blustery rain, well, you see what I mean. I just returned from NYC last week, and I’m...
by Dr. Chris Johnson | Jun 1, 2023 | Consciousness, Embodied Leadership, Mindfulness, Purpose
I woke up early that first Sunday of May. Bright and sunny, my plan was to go to church. Quiet reflection always energizes me, and I knew I’d be in a better mental place to study for my upcoming graduate school exams later that week from place of quiet...