All life events are formative. All contribute to what we become, year by year, as we go on growing. As my friend the poet Kenneth Koch once said, "You aren't just the age you are. You are all the ages ... Read More about Experiences and Identity
Week 22: Obstacles and Opportunities
Environment
Our environment consists of everything external to the self that affects us in any way: the physical world as well as other living organisms, including people, and all the social, political, economic ... Read More about Environment
Physical Systems
I arise early in the morning to work on this project. For a few hours, I am at my peak. Then, after a few hours thinking about the subject matter of these pages, my mind is no longer as fresh as it ... Read More about Physical Systems
Habits and Attitudes
Nothing so needs reforming as other people's habits. [Mark Twain, The Tragedy of Pudd'nhead Wilson (1894), Chapter 15.] We have explored the value of good habits (actions) but we also know, from ... Read More about Habits and Attitudes
Beliefs and Convictions
Gustave Dore, The Second Crusaders Encounter the Remains of the First Crusaders (1877)People have believed things with utter conviction - a combination of thought and action - and been consummately ... Read More about Beliefs and Convictions
Values and Expectations
“. . . twichin’ like a finger on the trigger of a gun.” [Paul Simon, “My Little Town”] Salvador Dali, The Enigma of Desire, or My Mother, My Mother, My Mother (1929) An ethical and moral life ... Read More about Values and Expectations
Thinking, Feeling, Acting (opportunities and obstacles)
Justice is the first virtue of social institutions, as truth is of systems of thought. [John Rawls, A Theory of Justice (1971), Chapter I, “Justice as Fairness”, 1. The Role of Justice.] There's no ... Read More about Thinking, Feeling, Acting (opportunities and obstacles)