Issues of 7 for Sunday.

  • Purpose and connection

    Issue № 130

    Purpose and connection

    What transforms teaching from a role into a calling? As I prepare to coach (some people would insist I include “finally” before prepare) I am repeatedly finding myself lost in thought. Thinking about coaching, would be great. It’s the “lost in” part which has been troubling me. But I’ve got it backwards. My cat is…

  • Gifts to myself

    Issue № 129

    Gifts to myself

    Will I say, ‘Thank you’? Think about your perception of time: We remember our past (or so we believe.) We have ideas about how our life might unfold in the future. We understand that it is, currently, now. We somehow sense that time passes— that time, somewhat like the water of a river, goes past…

  • Permission to continue

    Issue № 128

    Permission to continue

    What is inspiration? I’ll bet you think inspiration is important; I certainly do. I realized that I don’t have a clear understanding of what inspiration actually is. A friend has died unexpectedly, and I felt they were inspirational. And then I started to wonder why, exactly. I don’t know. ~ Nick Cave, from The Red…

  • One thing

    Issue № 127

    One thing

    Have you found your one thing? Mitch at first tries to make light of Curly’s explanation of the secret to life. But the secret to life really is one thing, and everything else don’t mean shit. Character can be created on the job only when we can see that there’s an intelligible, justifiable relation between…

  • On rising from the ashes

    Issue № 126

    On rising from the ashes

    Is it clarity or control? There is a fine line between being organized because you believe that’s how you can best achieve your goals, and because you’re in love with checklists, systems, and processes. Distinguishing the two is important, but an exasperated, “just look at all this stuff I have to do,” doesn’t make the…

  • Waiting for cephalopods

    Issue № 125

    Waiting for cephalopods

    How does space shape us? This morning I was jotting some thoughts about resistance. I’ve learned (and others have reached these same conclusions) that it’s difficult to try to force myself; That requires a lot of mental energy which I often run short of. What works is when I have a clearly delineated space for…

  • Writing matters

    Issue № 124

    Writing matters

    How do I write what matters? I am aware that the Muse gives me bits of ideas. I feel I have a responsibility to be prepared for those gifts, and to that end I am very intentional with my surroundings. If my surroundings are distracting, or if my mind is overwhelmed, I’ll drop all else…

  • Anthropocentric

    Issue № 123

    Anthropocentric

    How do we know? Of course my default point of view is anthropocentric. I am a human being. As such, I have a super-power called the Theory of Mind: In my mind, I understand (the theory goes) that there are other minds completely separate from mine. Imagining the contents of those (theorized) other minds is…

  • Help thyself

    Issue № 122

    Help thyself

    How can I transform short-term inspiration into long-term change? I’m fixated on trying to get consistently good at converting short-term ideas and inspiration, into long-term life changes. For example: “Eat better,” is easy most of the time. Until I get stressed out, and run to the TV-monster to shut off my brain. Then, well I…

  • Innocence

    Issue № 121

    Innocence

    Why do we overlook the age of innocence to focus on the dramas of loss and redemption? The aphorism, “What once was lost, now is found” implies a preamble: What once was known, was then lost. One can’t have lost something without first having, or knowing, it. There are three acts to the story in…