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Wisdom

Join us this month as we venture through time to seek the sources of ancient and modern wisdom, and in turn, learn to ask the questions to discover our own innate wisdom.

About Polite Society

MAR11 Issue: From The Editors

by Jacque Crosswell Watene
[ READ ARTICLE ] It's been a joy to spend these last few months with you. Together, we have explored the many facets of opening new doors and walking uncharted paths to create new opportunities for joy in our lives. We have discovered the power of love and gratitude, and are becoming much better at applying these principles to all aspects of our lives…
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MAR11 Issue: Variations on a Theme

"Wisdom: A Tree of Life"
by Amy Carpenter
[ READ ARTICLE ] King Solomon, once hailed as the wisest man in the land, told his son, "Happy is the man that findeth wisdom, and the man that getteth understanding… She [wisdom] is a tree of life to them that lay hold upon her." Many people search for ways to achieve happiness, but in their quest, they become sidetracked, forgetting that pleasure is not the same as happiness. They look for happiness in the easy path…
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MAR11 Issue: Etiquette

"Proper Introductions"
by Jacque Crosswell Watene
[ READ ARTICLE ] The custom of greeting another person with a handshake, a kiss on the cheek, a warm hug, or even a nod of the head dates back as far as recorded history (and we may draw a fair conclusion that these assorted greeting customs began long before the first stick figure drawings were etched on cave walls). Every culture on the planet has some form or another of extending a greeting and making an introduction, and most of these greeting customs have become so habitual in their use, we hardly recognize that when we are performing them, we are acknowledging and adhering to a distinct social etiquette…
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MAR11 Issue: Abundant Living

"The World is Too Much With Us"
by Jacque Crosswell Watene
[ READ ARTICLE ] Things seem to be running smoothly — almost too smoothly. You have a solid week of knowing exactly what to make for dinner. Your gas tank seems as if it's magically always full. You remember to exercise everyday, and you even begin to feel those extra pounds melt away with each PX90 punch and kick.
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MAR11 Issue: Symbolism

"Symbols & Signs,
Life's Guidebook"
by Benji Schultz
[ READ ARTICLE ] Look around you. Your life is soaked with the presence of symbols and signs: the ring around your finger, the good luck charm in your purse, the wrinkles on your forehead, the bumper sticker on your car, and how about that lucky coin or prized collection of baseball cards you keep in storage collecting dust? The things we allow to exist about, tell a story about (us). These symbols tell about you, how you've lived, what you stand for—they also reveal a pathway or a road ahead and signs that you should be aware of …
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MAR11 Issue: Philosophy

"The Love of Wisdom"
by Paul O. Ingram
[ READ ARTICLE ] No one who has lived through the past few years can avoid being disturbed by questions that are essentially philosophical. War abounds, a radical contradiction to what most of us believe—human beings killing in order to reassert, somehow, the inviolable sanctity of human life; we read about people suffering everywhere and in vain; force seems everywhere triumphant, and against it, human justice and justice for Planet Earth seem to disappear…
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MAR11 Issue: Literary Circle

"Value from the Void"
by Sue Peterson
[ READ ARTICLE ] A blank page. One of the most intimidating—yet enticing—sights— a writer encounters. It calls to you, challenging your ideas; then, when you finally succumb to its powers, it romances you like a fickle mistress: affectionate one day, indifferent the next.
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MAR11 Issue: Entertaining

"Liquid Meditation"
by Jacque Crosswell Watene
[ READ ARTICLE ] The ritual of "taking tea" has been a custom for thousands of years, though it wasn't until the early 19th century that England and the rest of Western civilization discovered its merits. For centuries, the ancient peoples of Asia have known the wisdom and pleasure that comes from sipping the lovely, hot brew from a porcelain cup…
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MAR11 Issue: Lost & Found

"The Seeds of Wisdom"
by William Suddeth
[ READ ARTICLE ] Wisdom is often used and tried but rarely understood. Wisdom is the use of knowledge with a sound and discerning judgment based upon the experiences that have been lived. It is also based upon results of our past decisions and behaviors and the advice of others that lead and inspire through philosophies, writings, and speeches. As such, one may think they have developed their mental acumen and entrenched their understanding of "some" knowledge,…
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MAR11 Issue: Language, Literature & Romanticism

"Perfecting Our Language"
by Geneil Johnson
[ READ ARTICLE ] Language is a beautiful and amazing thing. We begin learning its inflections before we are born. We use it constantly, almost without thinking, to express ourselves and to define the world around us. Verbally, it can flow as we think it; we usually have little need to check ourselves for correctness—but on paper?
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MAR11 Issue: Music

"Voices and Building Blocks"
by Amy Carpenter
[ READ ARTICLE ] It begins with a single voice. The left hand plays the haunting solo in the treble (right hand) area of the keyboard. The melody is crisp and logical, yet achingly beautiful. After a flourish of C and B, the voice jumps down to a G and then back to the trilling C and B, returning to the G before flitting back home to the C and B, and then finally hopping even further down to an F and running up a couple of notes to an A flat. Then it falls in graceful, quick 16th notes as the right hand begins a second voice…
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MAR11 Issue: Inspiring People

"A Queen and Her Prince"
by Amy Carpenter
[ READ ARTICLE ] There once lived a Queen and her Prince. Their love was the stuff of fairy tales. She was the young maiden locked away in a prison of her mother's making, and he was the handsome foreigner who saved her from the influences of her childhood. Their love would echo throughout history and change the course of a nation...
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MAR11 Issue: Art History

"The Age of Wisdom"
by Peri Musser
[ READ ARTICLE ] Greeks personified wisdom as an elegantly crafted statue of the Goddess Athena. Across ancient Asia, wisdom was found through practice of martial arts and meditation. In west Africa, the spider web, representing the complexity of human life, is a great symbol of wisdom. Kings, sultans, czars, presidents, lords, tyrants, emperors, and pharaohs have claimed to possess it. It can be given freely and sought after vigorously. It is revered and feared.
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MAR11 Issue: People of Note

"True Wisdom:
Getting Out of Your Cave"
by Benji Schultz
[ READ ARTICLE ] When was the last time you were in a cave? Were you younger? Was it recent? Do you remember the damp air, the lack of light; the chilled air in your lungs, the dripping water, softly trickling down the rocky surfaces around you. Did you imagine the possibility of bats as you spelunked through the dark? …
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MAR11 Issue: Travel at Home and Abroad

"Quintessential England"
by Erika Anthony
[ READ ARTICLE ] Recently, I was looking back at an old journal from my stint some ten years ago in England. I had been hanging out with some summer pest control salesmen, and I was smitten with one in particular. I found a passage in the journal in which I was weighing the pros and cons of going to England at the cost of leaving this young affection …
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MAR11 Issue: Local Artisans

"Jessica Ceason: Creating Masterpieces from Behind the Camera"
[ READ ARTICLE ]

MAR11 Issue: Culinary Fare

"A King's Fare"
by Ryan Ingram
[ READ ARTICLE ]

MAR11 Issue: From The Inside Out

"Finding Your Inner Wisdom"
by Christine Pethel
[ READ ARTICLE ] I'm not half bad," I think, "dressed in my slim, navy pantsuit, black chunky heels, briefcase in hand. I have a high-powered job, one that many women would do anything for. I have money in the bank and a well-styled apartment. I went to school for many years, earning a well-respected degree. I have a close group of girlfriends and a wonderful husband…
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MAR11 Issue: Mind Body Spirit

"Inner Wisdom through Meditation"
by April Ruffner
[ READ ARTICLE ] We are all on a journey to gain wisdom during this life. The road to finding out who we are and the true nature of our beings is perhaps our greatest feat. During my journey through life, I have found meditation to be an essential component on the path to self-realization and a direct connection to my higher self. Meditation is a personal journey that starts from within, which can lead to enlightened thoughts and ideas applicable to one's life experience. It helps us achieve a higher place of consciousness thus connecting us with our spirits…
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MAR11 Issue: Perspective

"A Perspective Change"
by Christine Pethel
[ READ ARTICLE ] As human beings, our lives are full of perception, of perceiving things. Our perspective is our personal mental view or outlook regarding the situations and experiences that present themselves each day for our interpretation. Physical perspective depends on location; we see different perspectives if we stand in different places, and when we stand in a higher place, we usually have a broader, more complete perspective. Mental perspective works in a similar way. We observe life, generally, from one perspective—our own...
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MAR11 Issue: Credits

"Credits and Special Thanks"
[ READ ARTICLE ]

"True knowledge exists in knowing that you know nothing."

-Socrates