The world we live in...

 The Noble Gesture and the Invisible Dumpster Human beings, when observed from a safe distance and preferably through very good binoculars, appear to be creatures of astonishing generosity. They will gather in great numbers, often on a Saturday morning when sensible mammals would still be asleep, to release thousands of small rubber ducks into a river and then cheer wildly as gravity performs its usual duties. This is called charity . The ducks are purchased individually, which is important, because nothing says “collective moral purpose” quite like competitive floating. Each duck represents hope, kindness, and a quiet understanding that the duck itself was manufactured in a factory whose carbon footprint could be detected from space by anyone who happened to be looking for it. But this is not discussed, because the ducks are smiling. Humans have discovered that if an action is framed as doing good , it acquires a kind of magical force field. Inside this field, questions about wast...

 A decade does a lot to a person.  This year I am claiming my first grey hairs, achy joints, weight gain, and chin hairs I get to pluck along the way.  Huzzah!  Oh, dear old age.  You silly goose.   With age hopefully comes wisdom.  Growth.  Healing.  Peace. Every so often I look back at who I was so many years ago and wonder what that version of me was thinking.   I look at where I am now and can say I am happy for what I have endured, though I still wouldn't wish my tribulations upon others.  Through it all, however, my character remains unchanged.  My ideals, my heart, my compassion, my honor, they still pulse strongly through my veins.  Perhaps even more strongly. I overcame.  I was the one that got hit down, repeatedly, and kept standing up.  I was broken.  I didn't understand the dark side of human nature.  I was naive.  Too trusting.  I thought others thought like me... they d...

The Starting Point It occurred to me over this life that people have different viewpoints. In fact, I feel like life has beaten this into me over and over again.  I have also taken note that a lot of people, not everyone, can sometimes get lost in their own perceptions and fail to see how limited it is.   For example, if I was to ask you what the following was, I would assume most people would call it a triangle.  Indeed, I would agree!   Then, I could ask what the following was: If you are like me, you might call that a square.   The Allegory of the Cave In high school I read a book called Sophie's World.   It was what hooked me into learning about philosophy.  It introduced various concepts, one of my favorites was the Allegory of the Cave.  To copy and paste from the internet: Plato used the analogy of the cave to illustrate his idea of forms. The analogy goes like this: Imagine several prisoners who have been chained up in a cav...

     I don't know about you, but sometimes I run across a scene in a movie where I think, "That's it!  That is the piece I couldn't explain to you before!"  And I watch it, sometimes 20 times over, before I am convinced.  I just never knew how to put the concept into words.        Dr. Strange is one of those movies where I was captivated. Particularly the scene where Dr. Strange meets the Ancient One.  But why?  Because the Ancient One seems to understand the great concept of partial perception.  She holds up a book to Dr Strange.  Within it are various types of maps of the body.       The book the Ancient One holds up has various "maps" of the body.  Some based in science, such as an image of an MRI.  Others are pseudoscience, such as the map for acupuncture or of chakras.  She insists, however, "Each of those maps were drawn by someone who could see in part, but not in whole"....

 What better way to start off my journey into myself than this?  A blog!