Equilibrium.
Hanging on for dear life? Everyone is. Finding a sense of balance is a worthy pursuit and requires an appreciation of opposites. Even when they do not attract.
Woman Holding a Balance. Johannes Vermeer. 1664. Oil on canvas. Widener Collection, National Gallery of Art.
How fusing opposites creates value for brands
Walker Smith: Brands must beware of either/or. That’s a combative approach in a marketplace of Both-ism. But picking sides is what we’ve seen happen in a couple of recent instances — brands denigrating the old way as wrong and championing some new way as right. Thereby pursuing a deliberate strategy of division, which is old-school stuff in a culture of Both-ism. The experience of life as a culture of Both-ism is one reason, among others, that people feel no discomfort with enthusiastic spending alongside negative feelings about the economy.
French town erects monument to air crew shot down in World War II: two Virginians were on board
Dwayne Yancey: We, as Americans, often suffer from only having short-term memories. That is not a problem that afflicts much of the world. You can argue that some places might be better off if they could forget a few things and move on, but in the case of France, this is a country that has not forgotten the role that Americans played in rescuing the country during World War II.
What Cary Grant told me about getting dressed
Charles Hix: Now that I’m an octogenarian, Grant’s observations make even more sense to me. In retrospect, I believe he was warning me that youth and beauty fade, and once the glory days are over, an older, wiser man should strive for elegance and dignity. There are no prizes for appearing sloppy or ill-kempt.
Why social drinking is integral to a longer life
James Evison: A study by American scientists last year also explained why light-to-moderate alcohol consumption could lower the risk of heart disease, with the researchers, who published their findings in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, discovered that alcohol in moderate quantities was associated with long-term reductions in stress signalling in the brain.