There is only one world, and this is false, cruel, and contradictory, seductive, without meaning— A world thus constituted is the real world. We have need of lies in order to conquer this reality, this “truth,” that is in order to live. –excerpt The Birth of Tragedy Friedrich Nietzsche Can’t shake this brief quotation. …
It is impossible to ignore, to reduce to a disposable abstraction one’s relationship to the Earth. We are of Nature, and with all that lives, will return to the living earth, from which we came. There was a time before we were, even if I seldom feel that fact. There will be a time…
Yesterday I didn’t post. Regret that I was defeated by circumstances. Defeat always occurs in the mind. External circumstances, in my case a disabled snow blower, projects awaiting my attention at work, etc. in concert constituted a mental squall, and I lost my heading. Writing is a discipline that serves to clarify a direction…
The snow falls this morning in a steady curtain. Vehicles, one by one speed by in a swirling wake of icy turbulence. Another morning in wintry Illinois. There is inevitable friction, turbulence, a rift between the world of human artifice called “civilization” and Nature. From the beginning of humankind, the awakening of consciousness by…
Starbucks on a Saturday morning, a background buzz of conversation, hubub from behind the serving counter, as baristas furiously compose drinks, microwaving breakfast treats, –and I reading my new book, Hiking With Nietzsche, by John Kaag. What am I thinking, as I close in on my 70th birthday, day to day working through the…
The weather is bitter, matching my frame of mind. Yesterday was close to 50 degrees Fahrenheit, and over night, a whipsaw to 8 degrees and a stiff wind. Even colder existentially was the snippet of a NPR news report this morning. There is planned for today a White House Rose Garden ceremony where the…
A day of appreciation for those who mean the most to us reminded me of a granddaughter that we all miss. Baby Kai was still-born with little advance warning on December of 2017. She was loved, her birth celebrated with anticipation. She will always have a place in our hearts. Thus I remember her …
Yesterday I was working out of doors, it was 16 degrees with a stiff 20 mph gusting wind. I persevered to completion of a necessary job. That’s what it means to live as an adult. There are many things that must be done, never mind the discomfort. On the return drive to the office…
And so it begins. What begins, remains to be seen. A bipartisan committee has finished a compromise bill that addresses border security concerns, as well as funds the government. The Democrats appear to have turned the Presidents demand to have ability to create unlimited detention centers along the border. A cap is established in…
A few days ago an extended email exchange of points of view happened. The mutual expression of views were in response to an initial statement regarding the hyped and stratospheric values of the art market, a field of competition for the uber-wealthy. I was prompted to reflect upon my long standing fascination with art,…
