Why Everything Scares You To Death
The other night, while I was trying to sleep, I started thinking about the post I wrote last week where I stated that hatred is driven – at its core – by a fear of death. I couldn’t shake the idea that I was missing something fundamental. Naturally this started to make me feel a little anxious. Which then got me thinking, why I am … Continue reading Why Everything Scares You To Death
Be a Listener
By Troy Headrick I am an educator, a manager, and a writer, which means I use my brain and voice a lot. In my profession and in the virtual world, a space more and more of us increasingly reside in, a great emphasis is placed on having a message and speaking it via websites or social media. To get it out, though, the speaker needs … Continue reading Be a Listener
How To Make Love To Hate
“We must meet the forces of hate with the power of love.” – Martin Luther King, Jr. I’ve been thinking about hate recently. Not only because we’ve see so much of it this past year, but because I’ve felt some as well. Truthfully it got to a point preceding the US election where it broke me a little. I thought I was clear about where … Continue reading How To Make Love To Hate
Getting the Heart and Mind Right
By Troy Headrick Hi, everyone. I’ve been away for a couple of weeks. I’ve certainly missed being here, but I needed time off to decompress and recharge. Speaking of decompressing and recharging, I wonder if people, living during earlier periods of history, felt as hurried and harried as those of us living in this twenty-first century feel. That’s an interesting question perhaps best left to … Continue reading Getting the Heart and Mind Right
Different Definitions of Happiness: A reflection.
We all honor our own innate ideals of happiness. Our conception of “the good life.” Composing and recomposing our lives around this archetype of euphoria. But that’s the thing. Continue reading Different Definitions of Happiness: A reflection.
Control the Chaos
Hello everyone, My life is hectic right now, so I am not able to write consistently. But I miss you all! I hope everyone is doing good! The hectic nature of my life recently made me think of something that some of tend to do, me included. We want to control things and when we cannot, we feel stressed. That is one major reason we … Continue reading Control the Chaos
OH SNAP!
By Billy Osogo “Educate, Empathize and Empower all!” That was the comment by my friend SnapDragon X on my previous piece. A brilliant choice of words, if I do so say myself! As I mentioned heretofore, the subject of racism is one that we must continue to have genuine conversations on. Educating yourself, allows you empathize which puts you in a prime position to empower. … Continue reading OH SNAP!
SnapDragon Speaks: On All I Need.
Greetings, Dear Reader! The SnapDragon Family is currently on the road, seeing some sights during this all-too-depressing season of lockdown during winter in Pennsylvania. (starts shivering, and hides head beneath a blanket) We’re cozied up in our Berkshire Class-A RV, embracing the open road and relishing the chance to travel to the American southeast. Sure it’s just us three—we’re still in a pandemic, mind you—but … Continue reading SnapDragon Speaks: On All I Need.
Seeking an outside-of-life meaning as a category mistake
By SeekerFive A very nice comment by @kjensenstudio pushed me to enlarge upon what I meant by suggesting, in a previous post, that “life is the condition for meaning and meaningfulness, rather than something that needs a single, permanent, or predetermined meaning.” Although I attempted to do so in a long-winded reply, I also want to share my attempt here. So I am first of … Continue reading Seeking an outside-of-life meaning as a category mistake
A Special Message for Today
By Troy Headrick The idea for this blog came to me at 4 a.m. on Valentine’s Day. This proves that the mind can frolic while the body rests. Back when I was working at Bilkent University in Ankara, Turkey, I was given an interesting assignment. I was asked to team teach a philosophy course and was paired with an eccentric guy—in truth, we’re all eccentric, … Continue reading A Special Message for Today
How to Love the Unrecognizable Part of Yourself
“When you accept yourself, the whole world accepts you.” Easier said than done, right? To love yourself at the current moment is complex enough, but what about who you used to be? What about the parts of yourself you aren’t proud of? What about the tedious pieces which still need tending to? To truly love yourself, you must accept the unrecognizable part of yourself as … Continue reading How to Love the Unrecognizable Part of Yourself
ON BIG NOSES
(*Sniff*Sniff*) Do you smell that? Imagine living in a world where the size of your nose determined the quality of your life. A large nose would guarantee you access to good schools, quality healthcare, higher wages and everything in between. Conversely having a small nose would automatically disenfranchise you from everything that people with big noses get to enjoy. For starters, you’d be required by … Continue reading ON BIG NOSES
We are Awesome!
Hi everyone, Let’s talk about what we like about ourselves today. What side of our personality do we like best? What can we do well? We tend to see the negative aspects of us. We focus on what we cannot do, should not do, will not do etc. These have their places too. True, we cannot do some things. It is not possible for us … Continue reading We are Awesome!
It’s Good News Saturday
By Troy Headrick I’d like to share some good news with you. I was just awarded a “Master” certificate in Life Coaching. I can’t tell you how much this pleases me. There’s more than meets the eye to my certification story, though. I’ve long been intrigued with coaching. In fact, though I’ve only recently been certified, I’ve been a life and learning coach for many … Continue reading It’s Good News Saturday
Table(t) Manners
Growing up my dad always made a point about having good table manners. He made sure we never chewed food with our mouths open. That we always sat up straight. That we we set the table properly and cleared away and washed the dishes afterwards. One of the rules was if you didn’t cook, you clean! Now that I have kids of my own, I … Continue reading Table(t) Manners
BRICK WALLS
Death is a subject we seldom discuss yet we know it is inevitable. A few years ago I attended a requiem mass for a relative at the Holy Family Basilica in Nairobi. It was a teary and somber service. A sniff would start in one corner, a pain-laden sigh in another and soon, the entire building would erupt in wailing. The celebrant took to the rostrum. … Continue reading BRICK WALLS
Illusion
By Troy Headrick I want to start with a confession. Lately, I’ve been suffering from a touch of writer’s block. So, much to my delight, while I was just sitting in front of my laptop, the following blog began to take shape in my mind. I’m in my bedroom, “at work.” It’s Monday, 1:03 p.m., February 1, 2021. In approximately six weeks, I will have … Continue reading Illusion
SnapDragon Speaks: On Thought-Jelly.
Hi. SnapDragon here. It’s been awhile. And who knows why, really. I mean, I do have a toddler. I tend to the house and home. I technically work full-time, although it’s more like a part-time, online gig at the moment. (No complaints. But it still takes up minutes of my day.) And by the time I have an hour to myself–with a cat or two … Continue reading SnapDragon Speaks: On Thought-Jelly.
A Frustration We All Know
By Troy Headrick This past Christmas, I received an Amazon gift card. I used it to buy three books, including Anthony Bourdain’s The Tasty Bits. I’ll never forget the morning I learned that Anthony Bourdain—famed chef, travel writer, television personality, recovered junkie, and hipster guru—had committed suicide. I was sitting on my butt, watching TV, and suddenly there was breaking news: ANTHONY BOURDAIN FOUND DEAD … Continue reading A Frustration We All Know
TWO FOR THE ROAD
Paulo Coelho in his best-selling book, The Alchemist, writes of children; “A child can teach an adult three things: to be happy for no reason, to always be busy with something, and to know how to demand with all his might that which he desires.” COVID-19 hit Nairobi sometime in March. That’s when the Kenyan government put in place preventive measures such as closing down … Continue reading TWO FOR THE ROAD