Good and Solitude

During the Holidays I found myself reading “The Art of Solitude” written by Stephen Batchelor.  I could call myself a writer in that over the years writing these posts,  papers, documents, policies etc. not only turns out to be how I maintain my mental health but also how I feel I can best contribute. But writing…

Decembers holidays are often an emotional challenge for me. As I move on in life the rituals are beginning to eclipse the presents and parties, but still a memory resides in me that plays the full spectrum of joy from seasons past. But what could I still need materially as a gift as in present?…

While taking a walk with my primary advisor I was pondering out loud the difficulty of talking about ‘good’ as in the Sense of Good.  People often respond to discussions of the word ‘good’ and its content  either as a linguistic pastime or a sad slide into the Good/Bad Binary.  My advisor reminded me that…

I recently read an opinion piece in the New York Times that took me down that rabbit hole called alternately history and philosophy. The article “If It Was Good Enough for Socrates, It’s Good Enough for Sophomores written by Molly Worthen  addressed the use of the oral exam in higher education and referenced in doing so…

What do you do when an election looks more like real life than a sporting event? I enjoy watching sporting events and at the same time scratch my head about why sports feel so good at times . Maybe it is the binary of it all. Someone actually wins conclusively and for brief clean moments…

Some years ago I attended a lecture by a Buddhist writer named Stephen Batchelor who spoke on the critical difference between upper case ‘Truth’ and lower case ‘truth’.  My brutal summary of his elegant talk is that the lower case truth is the stuff of work, wisdom and discovery while the uppercase Truth trends toward…

Every act of violence has roots that tap into and are fed by history. The gardener recognizes the pattern. The wild weeds of violence are not discouraged easily by the scythe. The root remains, survives the winter, and sends up ten more stalks in the spring. The violence of slavery, the civil war, the world…

The good leader lights the fire, but the fuel for the fire’s resilience resides in those being led. As we watch the poll numbers of various groups coming to their decisions for this next election, it is becoming clear that the poll patterns do not reflect the stereotypes that drive today’s overly simplistic public conversations.…

In just a few weeks approximately slightly less than 50% of American voters will feel themselves in the political minority. In this age of unbridled, often undisciplined rage we need to take stock and be concerned. In a democracy, majority rule is another one of those inconvenient truths. You can’t ignore the possibility that you…

The most radical act we may have to offer is a deep form of transparency with ourselves and others.  Extremism only requires a capacity to acquire an ideology or a creed and the motivation suspend internal integrity to act in the extreme. A profoundly radical act demands you be true to your sense of good with…