The forger of swords for the Minister of War had reached the age of eighty, and had not lost a hair’s-breadth of his ability. The Minister said to him, ‘You are indeed skillful, Sir. Have you any method that makes you so?’ The man said, ‘Your servant has (always) kept to his work. When…
Ten days into December. A friend asked if I was finished my Christmas shopping? The gift giving custom can be approached in many ways. Christmas is best experienced for me by reducing the intensity of stress. Quite by accident I am learning to cultivate curiosity for each of the duties, the chores, and the…
Soon it will be mid-December. Its raining outside, Saturday. Tom Petty’s Runnin’ Down A Dream played on the radio, I drove on the rain slicked road before light this morning. An extended email exchange with an old friend occupied my thoughts. He is a die-hard conservative. I, on the other hand, am on the…
Tuesday is a gray day. A bit of snow this morning becomes an annunciation of winter. I look forward to winter because days are shorter. There’s the respite from growth. Absent the need to transform energy into concrete form, I make room for contemplation, reading, marinating my sense of self with the mind of…
This fierce disco number, written by Kenneth Gamble, Leon Huff and Cary Gilbert captured my imagination. I have listened to radio play of the song too many times to count. Thelma Houston’s opening voice run washed over me like the movement of a great tide. Is not our fundamental longing that of loving and…
A group of us attempted to better understand what is meant by culture. Isn’t culture tacitly agreed upon habits of behavior, norms of a common life, a form-of-life shared? Expectations are built up gradually by observation and practice. So much becomes “as if” instinct, imprinted habit. I simply know how to act, and how…
To love is to give what you do not have to someone who does not exist. -Jacques Lacan, Seminar VIII Today I “decided” to dedicate time to revisit the ideas of Jacques Lacan (1901-1981). Lacan was a psychoanalyst practicing according to the insight offered by Freudian philosophy which treated the unconscious. Lacan was interested…
‘I performed first the music calculated to awe; and you were frightened as if by a ghostly visitation, I followed it with that calculated to weary; and in your weariness you would have withdrawn. I concluded with that calculated to perplex; and in your perplexity you felt your stupidity. But that…
Spent the morning reading about the thought of Chuang Tsu. Also I read a few minutes from the Zhuangzi, a English translation of his story telling. Amazing! Words simply fail to do justice, there’s no straight forward description of his point of view. Moreover, I doubt if our 21st century external circumstances are really…
Showers today. Should I mind. Of course not. It is enough to remain in my circle of responsibility, of duty and concern. Weather, and the machinations of governments whether in Chicago, or in Washington are affairs upon which I have no effect. Is anyone in charge? Likely nobody. Office holders moving about as marionettes,…
