We can easily forgive a child who is afraid of the dark; the real tragedy of life is when men are afraid of the light. Seneca Seneca in a few words summarised that only when a human being understands the very nature of existence can spend a joyful life with full potential. What is the … More The Fear of Being Happy – Cherophobia
I’m pretty upset with myself. I grew up in the Austin area (and yet!) I never once heard of El Arroyo restaurant, not until a few days ago. Since the 1980s, besides serving fine Tex-Mex cuisine to countless customers, the eatery has been posting imaginably funny and clever signs in its parking lot. In fact, … More That’s Punny!
Who Am I? Depends Who You Ask Barring a few Zen Masters, all of us spend virtually every waking moment (and every non-waking moment) in our own heads. These accommodations may strike you as lightless prison cells, bright, soft palaces, or something in between, depending on your moods and/or medications. Hamlet claimed, “I could be … More “We Know What We Are, But Know Not What We May Be”
It’s Tuesday! That means we’ve posted a new podcast. In this episode, I have a cool conversation with Jack Canfora, one of Wise & Shine’s writers and our resident humorist. We discuss writing, blogging, the writing process, humor, and sundry related topics. Check it out. Show Notes: About the participants: Troy Headrick started writing before … More New Podcast!
Check out Wise & Shine’s new podcast. In our latest episode, I talk with Wynne Leon about “Finding My Father’s Faith,” her memoir. Enjoy!
Money. Pesa. Peso. Dinheiro. Geld. In whatever language you choose to refer to it, the concept of money is as fascinating as it is controversial. A seemingly inescapable aspect of human life. Its power, origins, value and everything in between, so interwined with our day-to-day lives and world order as we know it, that ambivalence … More MAKING $ENSE OF YOUR MONEY HABITS
Note: I’ve included some thinking exercises in this piece, toward the second half of the blog. Please participate in completing those and leaving your answers in the comment section. I hope you don’t feel that I’m beating a dead horse here, talking so much and with such passion about thinking. It’s just that I’m reminded … More Building the Muscular Mind (Final Installment with Exercises)
First of all, let’s just take a moment to enjoy the aesthetic decadence of that word. It’s zippy, it’s got zest. In some ways, as we will see, it captures a greater than zero percentage of the zeitgeist. It is every bit the equal of “zozzled,” a Jazz Age term for drunk. But “zugzwang” isn’t … More Zugzwang
If you’re a regular reader, you know I’ve been posting recently about the new Wise & Shine podcast. We’ve published four episodes, and I’m working hard to plan and record others. Our goal is to begin posting a new episode each Tuesday. I’d like to preview a few upcoming episodes. This weekend, I’ll be talking … More The Wise & Shine Podcast: Coming Attractions
Just imagine, you’re sat fat, dumb and happy when BAM! Your engine shits itself. (And so do you.) Suddenly you’re forced to divert. You need to get on the ground pronto! Before you know it, there you are. Grounded with a bum engine – a million miles from the original destination you had in mind. … More A Radical Idea. (I’m Going To Write a Book.)
Hi, everyone! Happy Friday! A new podcast, this one a conversation on aging between Troy Headrick and Todd Fulginiti, two Wise & Shine writers, is now available for your listening pleasure. In addition, two more episodes have been completed and will be posted soon. We have upcoming podcasts on the topic of “Heroes” and a … More More on the Wise & Shine Podcast
I apologize for the lateness of posting this. I had an unexpectedly hard time finishing the follow-up to my first installment. I actually completed it more than a week ago, but I didn’t feel good about what I’d written. It felt like the tone was all wrong. I was being too strident and too dark, … More Building the Muscular Mind (Installment Two)
just as Seneca thought Stoics could benefit from various Epicurean principles and practices, so should Stoics be able to use this traditionally Buddhist exercise … More A non-Stoic exercise for Stoic philanthropia
What would we say about the glass to indicate a perspective that is neither pessimistic nor optimistic? … More A “half-glass of water” question
Not me doing sports, obviously. That’s bizarre and more than a little disquieting to even picture. But for many people, sports, or more precisely, following a particular sport, team, or player, is something for which they feel a deep abiding passion. For me, it’s baseball. And even though I’m about to relate something specific to … More Why Sports Help Me
In previous posts I’ve been expanding on four difficulties probably faced by those of us attempting to practice Stoic philosophy. Here is the fourth: a certain lack of effective exercises for developing “philanthropy,” meaning a love of humanity or love of human beings. This “philanthropy” is itself a great topic and matter for reflection, but … More A Stoic difficulty: developing love for humanity (philanthropy)
Like most people, I’ve led an unusual life. For me, part of its unorthodoxy is my insistence on trying to make a living as a writer. Let’s just say, it’s been an uphill climb. But occasionally I comfort myself with the knowledge that there are a million reasons why things either gain recognition or fail … More A Mercifully Brief Post About Knowing Nothing
If you’re a long-time reader of my blogs, you know that I spent about two decades living the life of an expatriated American. I am proud of that time in my life. I first went abroad as a Peace Corps Volunteer, to Poland, not long after the collapse of the Soviet system, and then lived … More Beware: Garbage In, Garbage Out
My wife and I take care of a few feral cats that live in our neighborhood. They move quietly and gracefully into and out of our backyard and remind me of lithe shadows. We feed and water them, and when it got summertime hot back in early June, we constructed a crude but effective cat … More Goodbye Spunky
I want to finish this series of posts on personality I’ve put together over the past couple of months by giving you an analogy. To first recap, there are five major personality traits: extraversion, neuroticism, conscientiousness, openness and agreeableness. Wherever you lie on the spectrum of each trait – whatever the circumstances that shaped you … More The Hand We’ve Been Dealt