"If I tell many first-person stories in this book, it is not because I am obsessed with my own life or delude myself about its importance, but simply because it is the life I know best, and it provides all sorts of examples that I suspect are typical of most people's lives."                                                                        —Douglas Hofstadter

This statement accurately reflects my feelings about the 'musings on life' that I share in this book. Although I begin most of the pieces with a reference to something from my own personal experience, I then broaden the focus to reflect on the larger issues involved and invite you to consider how they impact you. I wrote these columns over a two-year period between May 2006 and May 2008. They're not presented here in the order in which they were written but are organized according to topics or themes—although I do note the month in which each article was written I also tried to write about issues that are universally relevant or meaningful—because the underlying theme of the book is recognizing and acknowledging the many things that bind us all together as people. It's my hope that these writings will serve as motivation or inspiration for each of you to take time to do your own 'musings on life.'                                                                               —Peggy Vaughan, November 2008