Hello! Let’s talk about life transitions today. As you might know, I recently finished my dissertation and I will no longer be a student. I have been a student for about 24 years by now. So, this new chapter in my life is very exciting and I am looking forward to it but also a bit intimidating. I do not know how life is when … Continue reading How to handle transitions in life
As noted by the philosopher Aristotle, humans are ‘social animals’ who exist and thrive in communities. We have the ability to devise sophisticated institutions enabling us to co-operate with others across cultures and borders. We can see how interwoven our lives all are through the complex interdependencies in our economies, societies and in the natural environment. As humans, we exist in broader networks and are … Continue reading Expanding Circles: Spiritual Exercises as a Bridge Towards Cosmopolitanism
The paradigm of reality that is related in this article is radically different from the one that we’ve been conditioned to believe. Almost everyone, particularly in western-type cultures, has been programmed to blindly accept that they are a separate self (the little “i”) who either gains, and is, therefore, labelled a success; or losses, and is, therefore, labelled a failure. Due to this, it’s our natural tendency to judge … Continue reading The Story of Gain and Loss
Note: This blog was originally published as an Op-Ed in the San Antonio Express-News. I’m republishing it here today because it relates nicely with Learning to Question: A Pedagogy of Liberation, a book I’m reading and one I wrote about in my most recent Pointless Overthinking blog. *** I am an American educator. My job is hard, and I sometimes feel like I’m fighting a … Continue reading Community Colleges Are Helping to Transform America
Hello there! Today, going with the theme of my last few posts, I want to discuss one other internal change I went through in the past 5-6 months: no longer claiming to know what is good for me and leaving it God’s hands what happens in my life. As I mentioned in an earlier post, my marriage was called off one month before the actual … Continue reading Let it happen
We are warned by psychologists and counselors to heal our apparent wounds; to recognize the importance of dealing with our emotional issues. To carry them into the so-called future is paramount to inviting a tiger to claw at us whenever it pleases. Such is not a way to live, or thrive, because there remains the threat that the wound will rip open again and bleed … Continue reading The Blink of A Porch Light
Some weeks ago, I checked out Learning to Question: A Pedagogy of Liberation, by Paulo Freire and Antonio Faundez, from the library at the college where I work. Yesterday, after having the book sit around unread since I’d taken it home, I decided the time was right and opened it up. I’m not far enough along in the text to be able to comment on … Continue reading Participating in Something New and Special
Hello! I have come to the realization in recent years (especially in recent months) that it is very important to understand your nature. Don’t resist your natural state. Here is what I mean: I realized that I am very much of a perfectionist when it comes to work (and just as chill with everything else). What I used to do was to take on too … Continue reading Understand you
A meditation on wonder Continue reading Wonder
(This article was orinally posted on my own blog site) The inspiration for this article arose from two recent events. The first was related to the poignant account of a man whose wife had recently passed away; of how he and his wife had walked a pathway together for many years, including periods when her body-mind had been ill. The second occurred when I read the … Continue reading Quit Thy Childhood, Wake Up
What is your biggest frustration right now and what do you plan to do (if anything) to resolve this situation? (If you want, you can name more than one here.) I’ll go first. I’m frustrated that I have so few opportunities to wander the globe the way I used to. Plus, my current job monopolizes my time when there are so many other more important … Continue reading Question of the Day: Number 554
Hello everyone! In my post last week, here, I talked about how silent and calm times are often followed by busy times. This is what happened with me last fall (calm times) and then this winter (busy times). I would normally expect myself to be very overwhelmed, especially given that all the things that happened were very important things for my life (dissertation defense, moving … Continue reading What we cannot control
Not long ago, I wrote a piece about thinking that prompted lots of reaction. After publishing it, my mind moved on to other topics. Recently, though, like in the last couple of days or so, I started thinking about thinking again. As you can probably tell, thinking is one my favorite activities. We think for lots of different reasons. Try to remember a time when … Continue reading I’ve Been Doing Even More Thinking about Thinking
Hello everyone! Wishing you all a great Sunday and a great week! Life has a habit of presenting us with times of unusually busy schedules right after often very stagnant periods. It looks like nothing is happening for months and then boom, everything happens at the same time. Maybe we are presented with those stagnant times first so we can rest properly and get the … Continue reading The Price of Resting too much: Chaos
Happy Sunday to my fellow bloggers and blog-lovers. In my corner of the world, it feels like summer is jussst around the corner. I’m not sure about you, but I’ve been feeling a little drained lately. There’s a pile of things pulling me in all different directions today. So in lieu of that, I’m going to share with you something that really fills my cup. … Continue reading On the philosophy of loving and losing
I dipped in and out of the confirmation hearings for Judge Jackson this week, because I hate myself exactly that much. I won’t dwell on it here any more than to ask you to consider the following fascinating thought experiment: If, God forbid, there were an accident and Ted Cruz and Josh Hawley were both dangling from a cliff and you could only save one … Continue reading When The Dog Whistle Becomes A Bull Horn
Many of us live in cultures that place great emphasis on being seen. We value how we’re seen, where we’re seen, and, equally, how and where we’re not seen. Most of us know people who desperately desire to seen here (skiing in the Alps), or seen there (attending an invitation-only gala); and if we’re honest, we will likely admit to at least occasionally having desired … Continue reading Beneath The Mask
As a species, most human beings work hard to get to where they want to be in their lives. From the valiant doctors all around the globe who risked life and limb to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic; the rags to riches CEO gracing the cover of Forbes Magazine, and everyone in between. Which begs the question, if success is the direct result of hard … Continue reading WHAT THE LUCK?
Several days ago, I invited my wife out for a meal at Hong Kong Harbor, a buffet-style restaurant that serves Chinese, Japanese, and Korean food. Toward the end of our time at the eatery, a waiter dropped off two fortune cookies. I’ve gotten some really good advice and words of wisdom over the years, so I’m always eager to retrieve and read those little slips … Continue reading I Ate the Cookie
Hello hello hello! How is everyone doing here? I miss all of you! I have been absent for a long time but I have a good reason:) In the meantime, I defended and submitted my dissertation, so now I am a Dr (not a medical one; an academic doctor). I also moved and had a bunch of job applications to make. There were too many … Continue reading Check-in
