PinnedSadness in SilenceImpressions from a ten day silent meditation retreat — Dukkha Despite my best efforts to keep it straight, the back is stiff and bending. A roaring pain that dances between my hip flexor my thoracic spine is a black hole of attention. With gritted teeth, I stare into my eyelids and wonder why I’m here. There is space. Wide, open…Meditation7 min readMeditation7 min read
Nov 12A Better TaskFrom Acceptance to Wonder — A step in the right direction In In Spite of Absurdity I explored the parallel between our lives and the futile task of Sisyphus, a connection made famous in Camus’s the Myth of Sisyphus. In the essay, Camus declares that “there is but one truly serious philosophical problem, and that is suicide.” In his view, our…Existentialism6 min readExistentialism6 min read
Sep 15Don’t Invade RussiaAn Unsettling Reminder from History — A Fortunate Downfall Along with being one of the worst, Adolf Hitler was also close to being one of the most succesful people in history. Once a homeless vagabond in Vienna, he rose from low ranking soldier in the first world war to leader of an obscure political party in a depleted and…History6 min readHistory6 min read
Sep 4In Spite of AbsurdityLiving with Sisyphean Resolve — Absurdity A Sisyphean task is one that is both laborious and futile; a chore that requires great and extended vigor but accomplishes precisely nothing at all. This sort of task derives its name from the Greek myth of Sisyphus, a king sentenced by the gods to push a boulder up a…Purpose10 min readPurpose10 min read
Jul 18Just Start OverTime, as a river, can cleanse — Time has many downsides. For one, it is both unrelenting and one-directional — you cannot get off the train, and the train only heads north. For another, it is unkind. As improbable clumps of order, much is lost in the process of moving from left to right in a universe…Time4 min readTime4 min read
Jul 10The Parable of Two DartsExamining Suffering and Perception — A master and disciple stroll through the jungle. They speak softly to each other and mind each step so as not to disturb the roads of busy communities weaving densely underfoot. The disciple is in a state of conflict. He is stuggling to understand the nature of suffering. Disciple: Please…Mindfulness6 min readMindfulness6 min read
Jun 13Should we follow our passions?Making sense of mixed messaging — The Craftsman Approach Since the 1990s, there has been a lot of ideological movement in the direction of “following your passion,” as if life were a scavenger hunt. The phrase dubiously implies that some thing we encounter will spontaneously turn into lifelong fulfillment. In recent years, pushback has grown. Cal Newport, who wrote…Passion7 min readPassion7 min read
Jun 7A Dream of SunlightA Strange Tale from Nowhere — In my dream I sat on a plane, though it was hard to say why. I don’t remember where I was flying from or where I was headed to, but for some reason I was anticipating the destination. The first vivid appearance to emerge from the haze of vague impression…Creative Writing5 min readCreative Writing5 min read
May 31Is Now the Time to Buy Real Estate?Staying Level Amidst Turbulence — This is a piece I wrote wrote at the end of 2021 as the pandemic was wreaking havoc on real estate markets — or at least, on expectations of them. What I wrote then is just as relevant now, and that’s because the answer to “should I invest?” is never…Real Estate11 min readReal Estate11 min read
May 15Incidental PurposeSynthesizing Meaning from the Void — The Gene Machine Few blows to the idea of a purposeful, man-made universe were so severe as that from Charles Darwin. For millennia, the mystery of our existence made it not just easy to believe that the outline of a meaningful life was etched by divinity in stone — it made it the…Purpose8 min readPurpose8 min read
