Decision Makers' Corner

It seems my last blog stimulated a bit of controversy. Some emotions ran awfully high, which surprised my naive self. Some commentors condemned the book I mentioned, The Female Brain (which they admitted they were not familiar with … some sort of prejudice seemed to be operating …), as they condemned me, too, for blogging about something I learned from the book.

The Female Brain was not written for a middle-aged man like me … I’m sure it was written for women (as are most books these days) … and by a female researcher who is a scientist with feminist leanings. Nevertheless, I learned much from it.

Oh yes, I’ve known about the power of hormones before, but The Female Brain went into biological detail in a clear way that made it possible for me to better understand things in some depth. Yes, I had heard that the brain structures of men and women are significantly different, but I had not known much about the hormones and their effect on our brains until I read this book, which says a lot about the male brain, too.

As a man who has been consciously trying





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Just finished the book The Female Brain. Wow … I can see that I needed more insight into what you ladies are dealing with … and am so glad for the increased knowledge!

Every 28 days or so, your brain is bobbing in a sea of fluctuating hormones. (Although I haven’t read her book The Male Brain yet, I know that men must be much more boring.) For one thing, I can see how a better understanding of your own and your friends’ cycles could improve  social networking! And, for males flooded with massive amounts of testosterone most of the time, it would be useful to have some clue as to when is a better time to approach your sweetie … and when is not!

And, of course, women have to deal with monumentally transforming events that involve massive amounts of hormone changes — things like pregnancy, childbirth, menopause. We males have changes of our own in life, but nothing even remotely like this!

This book should be required reading for everyone (I’d recommend gifting it to your mate). I can tell you, as a man, it has increased my empathy for women (and improved my timing!). Oh, yes … sometimes there’s tension, but never a dull mome





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Saturn’s orbit is approximately 29 years, so your third Saturn cycle begins around age 58. Now that I have reached this stage, I call it my “third act” … and it’s about sharing, supporting and teaching.

Now, of course, these “stages” are not precisely timed. Many people (especially these days) continue the “earning” stage well beyond 58, or even 65 for that matter. And many of us were sharing, supporting and teaching during Stage 1 or Stage 2, even while we were pursuing an education or ways to pay the bills.

My Stage 3 began when I sold the business I had started. I became a grandfather around the same time, which so nicely initiated me into the joys of being generous, by helping it feel so natural. What a heart-opener that little tyke has been for me … may the generous impulses he stimulates in me, and the joy that I get from indulging them, continue to expand (for me, via non-profit work and teaching).

True generosity is a joyous thing that can take many forms. As the author of Plenitude — The New Economics of True Wealth points out, we all have more than we know — if not monetarily, in our knowledge, skills, creativity, co





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Your second Saturn Cycle begins around age 29 or 30. By now (depending upon your emotional maturity), you will have learned as much as you could about what you like and what you are good at  (and, for some of us, who you want to live with).

The first Saturn cycle stage of life is about learning as much as you can, especially about yourself. The second stage is about being productive, which requires some commitment (although this does not have to be a commitment to something new … it could be renewed commitment to something you are already doing).

During this stage, you do those things you discovered you care about and want to do — whether it be raising a family, developing a career, starting a business, non-profit work … whatever. You know who you are … the sun of self-acceptance is shining, you do the best you can to produce a meaningful life for yourself … and you make hay while that sun shines!

Alice Bailey, a mystical writer in the 1930’s, wrote something that helped me not be overly anxious when I was beginning Stage 2. Somewhere in one of her many books, she wrote that the average human is not clear about her or his mission in this lifetim





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Recently I gave a talk to the student body of NW Academy, a special Portland high-school for the arts. The title of my talk was “Do What You Love and the Freedom Will Follow.” In it I mapped human life into three stages, corresponding to the astrological phenomena known as “Saturn returns” (see wiki on this).

Saturn has an elliptical orbit that takes from 28-30 years, so a person’s first “Saturn Return” comes to roost just before age 30, the second one culminates about age 59, and the third one around age 88. As Wikipedia (currently) puts it “It is believed by astrologers that as Saturn returns to the degree it occupied at the time of birth … a person crosses over a major threshold and into the next stage of life.” I discuss these ‘Saturn cycle stages’ in my speech, starting with the first one (the one most relevant to students).

Stage 1 — the first 29 years of life — is your primary “learning phase” — when you learn who you are, what you are good at, what you like to do. How should you go about all this? By experimenting, by taki



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How is it that you can feel grateful for an experience that leaves you feeling seriously dispirited -- depressed even -- for a long while? Such was the result of my tour of the infamous Auschwitz Death Camp in southern Poland, an hour outside of the city of Krakow.

I signed up for this tour ($30 including transport) because I felt it was my human responsibility to witness and comprehend as best I could the reality of the monstrous inhumanity to man that can happen -- that did happen in this place, especially since I was so nearby in Krakow. I won't go into too many details (just a few) ... Wikipedia does a great job on this.

A few things I learned that I didn't know before: the Auschwitz complex was the largest of all the Nazi concentration camps. It was run by a special unit of the Nazi SS, which was accountable to no one other than Himmler, and thus able to descend all the way into the pits of hell without push-back or restraint.

The camp was originally Polish army barracks, which the Nazi's converted for use as prison for their new Polish political prisoners as well as Russian prisoners of war. The first prisoners were the Poles themselves (including a few Jews) and alm





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Finally, I fulfilled a long-held dream to visit Poland, the land of my foremothers (yes, this half-Irish O'Brien is also half Polish). I write from the charming old city of Krakow in southern Poland.

Krakow's main feature is its large central square, which is still surrounded by elegantly preserved 15th century townhouses and shops, including some large ones that have been converted to hotels -- like the "Bonerowski Palace" (palace of "the Boners") where I am fortunate to be staying ... and feel so at home (perhaps I was a Boner in a previous lifetime :-).

In addition to my interest in history, one of the best parts of traveling for me is the social experience. Gemini extrovert that I am, I learn from variety and make it a point to meet many different people -- and different kinds of people -- wherever I go. The Polish people -- decimated first by the Nazis (who wanted to eliminate the Poles in order to take their land), then by Stalin -- are nothing if not resilient. They are also sweet-tempered and good looking (like half of me :-).The younger generation is highly educated and smart, non-pretentious and actually optimistic -- quite a development given the country's tragic



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Recently, I interviewed the author of a new book everyone in America should read as soon as possible. Titled Plenitude — The New Economics of True Wealth, this book by Boston College sociology professor Juliet Schor is a positive and practical treatment on how we can re-orient our values away from a monetary-based way of thinking (and the “poverty consciousness” that comes with it). You can listen to the interview here.

First, the author shows how “business as usual” (which she refers to as “BAU”) is coming to an end, whether we like it or not. There is just no way that five percent of the world’s population will be allowed to consume 25 percent of the remaining oil, for instance — no matter how oversized its military may be.

Because of America’s careless indebtedness for consumption (and war), the developing world (where almost all of the oil is) is gaining relative power. Plus, two billion Chinese and Indians want to be over-consumers like us. Even if we reduce our own consumption (fat chance), the overall consumption is bound to grow with BUA. This is a huge problem because the planet cannot sustain higher levels of ove



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Recently, when I was in Southern California to interview Daphne Rose Kingma, author of “The Future of Love,” I had the great good fortune to meet with with Suzanne Whang, who had interviewed me on Karma Air some months before.

What a dynamo! Not only is Suzanne a beautiful, wild and crazy, comedienne and actress, she is a self-proclaimed “self-improvement slut” who is fast becoming an articulate spokesperson for women’s political empowerment. Case in point: her portrayal of the galvanizing Sister Giant event (Facebook event page) that was recently hosted by Marianne Williamson.

In this incredibly personal and moving account, Suzanne articulates what we are all up against in making a conscious effort to evolve into a non-patriarchal society, one that respects and honors the feminine (including the intuitive arts, I presume), and how we can turn our longing for a more humane and balanced world into political action. A powerfully good read … thank you, Suzanne!



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A few weeks ago, I blogged how I was invited to audition for author of an advice column in Oregon’s “Alternatives” magazine. A number of you submitted questions for me to use to try out on. I wrote up my replies and forwarded them to Alternatives, and they liked them and, guess what, I got the gig! (The column will soon be featured on Tarot.com, in “Maui Vision” magazine, and on my non-profit’s website Divination.com, as well.

I had promised to email answers directly to the first five submissions, which I did. One lady whose husband had recently died wrote me back “Thank you for your spot on answer. My response is going to be quite long but you will ultimately understand why your answer was perfect if you read what I write …” A fellow wrote me back “Paulo, you were right on brother! The advice is excellent and made me view my dilemma differently without the emotional attachment to the 'thing' … I hope you will continue doing this for it will help a lot of people.” Nice!

Needless to say, such positive reinforcement helped me to realize that



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