Writer and Friendly Neighbourhood Philosopher
Just Thinking…
Not On My Time: A Closer Look At Being Busy
When (and if) there is intentionality behind these things, it’s usually someone else’s. Someone else benefits from you toiling away without raising your hand to ask for justification. Someone else is telling you how to scratch the itch of wanting to feel accomplished. “Someone Else” can be so enormous and impersonal that they don’t even know you exist. One can, and many people do, fill an entire lifetime being someone else’s version of busy.
In Praise Of New Years (All Of Them)
These celebrations are resets. Each has its own manner of clearing out what doesn’t serve, and welcoming in what might be helpful. They are festivals of “Whoa! So, that all happened. Now what?”
How Do We Like Them Apples? Please Ask A Philosopher.
While there may be a vitamin or two hiding in it, maybe a scrap of fibre here and there, it’s designed to address cravings, to serve as quick relief and instant gratification. We like this junk, with its glossy packaging and superb convenience. And we don’t like apples…right?
Stretching Out The Magic
Happy whatever, whenever, gentle readers. Please don’t sweat it.
The Last Ones Past The “Post”
Imagine being in a position to decide what gets put away, when we’re just “done” with something, when something is “over”. Imagine watching multitudes around you struggling to get over an obstacle, to hold tight to what helps, and announcing with a four-letter snippet that their concerns, their goals, and their reality are past tense. “Post” has power, though not any kind of power I’d like to wield.
In Praise of Brain Rot
“You know, random, meaningless stuff that just gets tossed around on social media. Did you guys even have that kind of thing before the internet?”
Maybe The Eyes Have It?
You don’t fight your way through The Louvre just to shrug and concede that Mona Lisa was politely posing for someone. You pause and ponder what’s behind her expression. You wonder what she was trying to convey, what da Vinci was trying to convey in capturing her bemused smirk in his work. There’s a message in her gaze, and I think if we take a beat and think about it, we’ll find that there’s important information in the “Gen Z Stare” too.
Let’s Play “Find the Philosopher”
There are no losers in this game. You may hit pause now and again, but your points can only go up. In Find the Philosopher, there are only learners who are rewarded with understanding, wonder, and connection. One just has to choose to start playing.
Even When You’re Not Happy…You Can Still Be All This Other Stuff.
Here's a thought: What if we saw happiness as a “nice to have” or a long-term goal, instead of a necessary milestone? What if we appreciated it when it happened, but didn’t beat ourselves up when it didn’t? What if we enjoyed it, but didn’t expect it, at least not all the time, and not in circumstances that seem to negate it? What else is there?
This Old Kid’s Guide To Halloween
I might just be hanging on to Halloween for nostalgic reasons, refusing to grow up, or replaying all the fun and excitement from when I was little, but I’m also partaking of something that hits differently for me.
No Foolin’. Critical Thinking Can Still Be Funny.
Comedy is a risky venture that takes insight into the world around us, the sensitivity necessary to take the temperature of an audience in short order, and the ability to wrap even the most troubling ideas in clever banter. In pursuit of snort laughs and applause, comedians say the difficult, complicated things the rest of us less-funny thinkers wish we could sneak into conversation.
Five Enormous Questions That Scare The Crap Out Of Me
For me, these are the hardest of the hard ones. It’s because they are so unspeakably hard that I keep them top of mind. The hard questions are the most important.
Not Everything Needs to Be A Musical: Defending Originality In The Arts
What does it do to a society to be fed the same stuff over and over, without a little something novel thrown into the mix? How far can we immerse ourselves in art if we only know it as a series of copies and repeats?
When The Tech Makes You Feel Bad About Yourself
The possibility of “delegating” doesn’t instil in me a sense of relief at having extra time to do other things, nor does it impress me with its capabilities. Instead, it makes me feel…small. There are instances when I’m overcome with feelings of being insignificant, irrelevant, obsolete, disposable. My sense of self-worth, my confidence as an artist and an educator, my pride in all the hours I’ve put in honing my craft, all shrink just a little.
The Last (And Maybe Best) Of the Third Places
I’d like to propose a new third place. It’s not an actual physical space, but rather a theoretical one, and although I’d prefer we have both physical and theoretical spaces in great supply, well, here we are. In case no one else has extended an initiation to you, I’d like to welcome you into the cramped, but cozy bubble of philosophy.
Up, Up and …Whatever: When the Supes Stop Feeling So Supe
In each case, it was clear that the heavy stuff wasn’t over when the credits rolled. You knew the heroes were going to get up the next morning (either in their fictional world, or in the sequel), and wonder why they were doing this again. Cue boulder and pathetic figure pushing it uphill.
If It’s Free, It’s For Me…Maybe.
For some reason, I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately. Maybe it’s because we’re all in a time of economic instability and it’s a small relief to be handed something, or maybe it’s because it’s outdoor festival season, and the freebie seekers and givers are out in full force. Either way, I have questions, not so much about the bits and bobs on offer, but about what these exchanges can reveal about us and where we’re at.
A (Not So) Quick Question For Those In Charge
I’d like to see it asked at political debates, when the house is in session, and whenever there’s a press conference, or an interview. I’d like it asked loudly, repeatedly, doggedly, until the leader in question gets flustered and inadvertently coughs up their truth.
Little Me, And Edu TV
Whatever we throwbacks feel we missed out on, in childhood or afterward, I think we have to admit that we were well fed (and well-nourished) as television viewers. 70’s and 80’s educational kids’ stuff was good. Really good, in fact.
Two Turntables And A Philosopher
But I’m also convinced that we do miss something when all we ever do is skip along the surface. When we rush our thinking the way we rush our music, completely overlooking the older, “analog” version of it, it’s not the same, and the things we miss can actually hurt us.