Well, that's a bit of a scary word, one for which most of us have a general disgust. "I hate being manipulated," we think as we conjure up a recent memory of someone forcing us to do something. Recently, though, I was reading, and a different thought popped into my...

There is a moment when you are faced with the real possibility that the dream that you have dreamed your whole life will not come true. It is a sacred moment of raw reality. Have you seen that famous scene in Les Miserable when Fantine is brought to that point? She...