Philosophy
Why I No Longer Celebrate the Jewish Holiday of Purim
Purim is fun. It’s the Jewish holiday where everyone dresses up (think Halloween/Mardi Gras), recounts the story of Purim (while boo’ing the villain Persian Haman, and cheering the great Jew Mordechai), and gets wasted (to the extent of being “obligated to drink on Purim until he does not know the difference between ‘cursed be Haman’ and […]
Some thoughts, and a practice, around eye contact
Our interacting primarily online for years has had many negative effects, but one that I found people rarely appreciate – and in my opinion needs to be actively countered – is what it’s done to eye contact. Zoom culture has made eye contact more rare and uncomfortable – and even as we’re coming together more, […]
Perspective and My Sister
As most of you know, I think (and talk) a lot about perspective – how the narratives with which we approach life determine our experiences. Quick kid story: My 10-year-old daughter knows my thoughts around perspectives well. She told me the other day: “It was hot today but I was fine. It’s weird how some […]
What Do You Want To Be Right About?
[Effectively Part 2 of “Everyone is Right”] Everyone is right: so what do you want to be right about? The crucial piece of this philosophy, and in everything being contextual, is that we each have control over our subjective reality. In other words: we have control over what we believe. It may be hard as […]
Everyone is Right
A friend called me out recently for one of my philosophies with which she absolutely disagreed: Everyone is right. This friend cited the offensive statement where it showed up in Dak (my novel). And while it’s fiction, and I generally vehemently distance myself from agreement/alignment with viewpoints of my characters, I admitted to her that […]
Kill the Method
Kill the method. By “method” I mean anything that you do or use to propel yourself, any practice that breaks down the things that hold you back, or brings greater meaning to your life. Think: yoga; meditation; plant medicine; religion; teachers/gurus. Kill it. Because methods are traps. They can bring so much goodness and growth […]
Everything is Contextual
Consider any person in the past, long ago, and consider their beliefs, their world view… and go ahead and chuckle. It’s what we do, thinking how backwards and uninformed they were, and how they were usurped by something more correct (aka our beliefs): whether science, or greater religion, or superior values, or just your new […]
A Contemplation on Meditation…
A contemplation on meditation: Many people have a very lofty notion of what “meditation” is, or what the experience is supposed to be like: namely, that “meditation” is about sitting with one’s mind silent, unthinking. But the mind isn’t going to stop. That’s not it’s job (and after all, you are not your mind). The […]
The Invisible Poetry of Life: a poem
The Invisible Poetry of Life The rousing amidst initial whisper of sunrise; And in the smell that stirs an inward journey; In that first eye contact with a future beloved; And among shared fits of tear-laden laughter. Within the reluctance of a final goodbye, and in the release of that familiar hand, one last time. […]