“Time doesn’t heal emotional pain, you need to learn how to let go.” ― Roy T. Bennett, The Light in the Heart During my adolescence, I was bullied relentlessly for over two years. It was one of the most challenging periods of my life. I was at boarding school at the time. Halfway across the … More Regaining Lift: A Stall Recovery Guide for Life
“The harder we try with the conscious will to do something, the less we shall succeed. Proficiency and results come only to those who have learned the paradoxical art of doing and not doing, or combining relaxation with activity.” – Aldous Huxley Drown-Proofing When it comes to our psychology what’s happened is this. Our hands … More Stalling: Why Letting Go Is the Key to Regaining Lift
It is easy to be dismissive of mythology in our modern-day secular culture. With the tools of logic, science and reason at our disposal, we arrive at our ideas of truth through rigorously testing our hypothesis with hard evidence and data. It was around the time when I was completing my undergraduate coursework in philosophy … More Diving into the Mythopoetic: A Personal Story
If you are losing your leisure, look out! –It may be you are losing your soul Virginia Woolf In modern society, work has come to dominate almost all aspects of our lives. One’s identity becomes subsumed by their job title. Days become filled with endless tasks and checklists. Ever increasing productivity seems to be our … More Rethinking Leisure in the Age of Total Work
“What does nihilism mean? That the highest values devaluate themselves. The aim is lacking; “why?” finds no answer. — FRIEDRICH NIETZSCHE The Elephant in the Universe Now, the elephant in the existential room known as the universe here is God. It’s not uncommon to hear atheists deride the idea of God while failing to see … More Stalling: The Death of God
Karma is one of the most known concepts of Buddhism and Hinduism. At the same time, it is also one of the least understood. You may hear people speaking about having a good or a bad Karma without really knowing what it is about. Those two main Eastern religions define Karma in the same way … More The True Meaning of Karma, How It Works and How It Helps You Improving Your Life
Imagine the following terrifying scenario. You’re on a flight that is out of control and destined to end in a fatal crash. There is nothing you can do about it. The engines have flamed out. The pilots are incapacitated. No one else knows how to fly. Now for some devastating news. This is you in … More Stalling: The Paradox of Meaning
The other night my brother, Jay, and I were out to dinner with his wife and another friend. Jay and I were sitting next to each other and my friend said it was funny to watch us with our synchronized big smiles, expressiveness, and gesticulating. We were talking about writing, something neither of us do … More Is Being A Writer an Inherited Trait?
So I hit a roadblock with my writing recently. I stalled. Ironically while writing a book about stalling and the need to let go to regain lift in life. Instead of doing that, I kept smacking my head against a brick wall. I am the master of not following my own advice. Eventually, I ceded … More Writer’s Roadblock
The Paradox of Progress The story of Buddha is well known. He was born into a palace and given every indulgence he could wish for. At the same time, he was shielded from the outside world. And yet, it wasn’t enough. He knew something was off. (Sound familiar?) One day he went against his father’s … More Stalling: Why We Lose Lift (2)
Last week I said the reason we stall in life is because we lose meaning. Of course meaning, lift, purpose (whatever you want to call it) is the reason we do anything. The meaning we give our life is the reason we get out of bed in the morning. Otherwise, why bother? In its deepest … More Stalling: Why We Lose Lift
The Four Forces of Flight There’s an analogy I want to imprint on your mind today. It’s one I intend to come back to repeatedly as I go about writing my high-flying book. It concerns something known in aviation as the four forces of flight. To give you a quick lesson in aerodynamics, those are … More Stalling: The Aerodynamics of Life
With Black Friday in recent memory and Christmas shopping right around the corner, what better time to look at the issues of consumerism in our society. Modern advertising is rather peculiar. If you pay close attention, you’ll realize that many of the commercials you come across don’t actually tell you much about the product that … More The Empty Promises of Consumerism
O’ Modern Man, Modern Man, how you stand up tall with your undeserved pride. You hold infinite knowledge in the palm of your hand, Control nature, much more than it can withstand. Is there anything you can not know? No place where you can not go? Why are you so serious modern man? Don’t you … More The Ignorance of the Modern Man
In search of meaning in life … More The Horizons of Meaning
A vision into our interconnected selves … More The Great Illusion of Separation
In the modern world, our job titles tend to be the centerpiece of our identities. When you meet someone new at a social gathering, the first piece of information that they will likely disclose to the question ‘what do you do?’ is the details of your chosen profession. Your answer to this question will dictate … More Redefining Success: Beyond Your Job Title
On a planet that has existed for billions of years, the human lifespan is remarkably short. Assuming I live to 80, the average age of a Canadian male, I have about 4,000 weeks on this earth. If I am lucky and healthy enough to make it that long, that gives me about 2,500 weeks left. [1] … More Racing Against the Clock: A Meditation on Being Human in a World of Endless Possibility
The search for meaning is inherent in the human being. In Japan there is even a specific word to define the importance of having a purpose in life: Ikigai. The Ikigai refers to the individual motivation, the one that makes us get out of bed every morning and that gives us the joy of living. … More Ikigai: the Search for Meaning
Nihilism is a dangerous belief. The inability to make sense of it all leads many to conclude that life is entirely pointless. This, in turn, can lead to the belief that there is little point in trying at anything. Now, I’m not here to debate the existence of a grand creator. (Thank God, I hear … More The Meaning of Meaninglessness