Lately I have been thinking a lot about playfulness and performance, which are two different modes of living. Playfulness and Performance When we are playful, we become joyfully caught up in the moment, focused on what we are doing for its own sake, [1] rather than focusing merely (or primarily) on what we gain from the… Continue reading Playfulness and Performance: Two Modes of Living
I have recently learned an important lesson about gratitude, and it has given me a great deal of joy. But before I tell you about that lesson, I should be honest about something. In the last few years, I have felt a bit skeptical about gratitude. It seems like recently, everywhere I turn, I have… Continue reading What I Have Learned about Gratitude Recently
I have recently been experiencing some painful and joyful personal growth. This semester, I have been teaching an independent study on African philosophy with two young women. This was our anthology, which I highly recommend. They have taught me so much. We finished our independent study the other day by watching the movie Judas and the… Continue reading What I Learned Teaching African Philosophy This Semester
Today we celebrate Mother’s Day, and I have been thinking a lot about the feminine. When I refer to the feminine in this context, I don’t refer to gender or biological sex. Rather I refer to a caring, relational, and life-giving way of being in the world. Philosopher Audre Lorde suggests this feminine is, at… Continue reading Do We Honor the Feminine?
One of the hallmarks of the U.S.[1], ideally, is that we tolerate diversity of ideas.[2] Because of this, we have a long-standing tradition of tolerating a variety of religions, ideas, beliefs, and lifestyles in our public life. We understand that not everyone agrees with what everyone else believes or thinks. And we believe, nonetheless, that… Continue reading Should We Tolerate Everything?
It is important to let yourself be a beginner. It's important that I let myself be one, too. But it is really hard. If you are anything like me, you have a bit of a perfectionist streak, and you want to get everything right and do everything well from the very beginning. Because of this,… Continue reading Let Yourself be a Beginner
I’ve been walking 10,000 steps a day for the last three and a half months, and it has brought more benefits to my life than I could have ever imagined. The Benefits of Walking Walking itself is a powerhouse movement that brings people all sorts of physical and mental benefits. Regular walkers have lower risk… Continue reading 10,000 Steps a Day for Three and a Half Months
Dear Friends: This post is an update from Love is Stronger and about what I have been doing. As you probably know, I have been on a semi-FB break since mid-January. It has been really good. And I planned to come back on at the end of March. (I wrote about this here: Love is… Continue reading Update from Love is Stronger–What I’ve Been Doing
Dear All: About this time of year, I often take a social media break. I usually do so reluctantly, but it almost always turns out to be a good time of rest and reflection. So, I will be taking a break from posting until early March and will see you then. I wish you very… Continue reading Love is Stronger will be back in March
This post contains a poem I wrote the other day about What I am for. Recently I was thinking about how easy it is to live our life being against things and people. And it is certainly right to call out harmful things and bad behavior. After all, as MLK once said, "Injustice anywhere is… Continue reading What I am For: A Poem
