The Examined Life
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the vision thing…
I’ve told my kids that as you grow older you lose your peripheral vision. I’ve said this repeatedly; most often, it seems, each time I felt my own vision closing in. When I was young(er) the world was wide open and my vision reflected it. Then, as I grew up and more focused (though that… Continue reading
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Phase of Authenticity
Is it just me, or do other people feel less authentic than they used to? It’s probably just me. I’m not even sure what I mean when I say authentic, but I know it when I feel it. (Kind of like Supreme Court Justice Stewart in 1964, writing about hard-core porn: “I shall not today… Continue reading
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“What’ya doin?”
“What’ya doin?” “I’m on Facebook.” “Sure you want to be doin’ that? You’ve been staring at your laptop for a couple hours.” “My life is being eaten up with this crap.” “Thoreau said, ‘Our inventions are…but improved means to an unimproved end.’ “I would like that, ‘improved means to an unimproved end’ if it didn’t… Continue reading
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Truth?
“Ye shall know the truth and the truth will set you free.” “I have never believed in the power of truth in itself.” Quote number one, a first-century desert prophet. Number two, a twentieth-century French philosopher. Both quotes were directed to a people subjugated, living in an occupied country, itching for insurrection. (The second quote… Continue reading
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Masterclass of a Life Well Lived
The ultimate creative assignment is the masterclass in a life well lived. Continue reading
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A Life in Terms of Fiction
The notion interests me that the ancient Greeks judged their philosophers by their lives, as well as their intellectual contribution. Kierkegaard noted that Socrate’s “whole life was [a] personal preoccupation with himself…” Likewise, Rembrandt made more than ninety self-portraits, far more than any other artist. One art historian, Manuel Gasser, wrote that “Over the years,… Continue reading
...the house I live in... 