I felt dry as a brown pile of fallen leaves, unable to muster an image or a passage of serviceable words for my humble service for the day, so I do what I sometimes do to lubricate my imagination: I pulled a book of Bradbury short stories off the shelf. The Machineries of Joy, firstContinue reading “The things they will search for again”
Category Archives: Free yourself
Finding calm in a forest of squirrels
It’s all squirrels. We race from topic to topic in a constant state of distraction. Begin to think about what it would take to achieve world peace, and — Squirrel! Try to understand how the economy works and — Squirrel! Sit. Sift. Listen. Somehow, find a way to hear the messages you need to hear,Continue reading “Finding calm in a forest of squirrels”
Meet the new boss
Moms through the ages have advised their kids, if you can’t think of anything nice to say, just don’t say anything. I think of those moms lately when the political ads come on. And here we are, Election Day, and I can’t think of anything nice to say. I should stop there, shouldn’t I? MyContinue reading “Meet the new boss”
Truth and consequences
What do I have to say next? What should I say? “What should I say?” Now, there’s an interesting question fraught with assumptions. It suggests that, when I consider what to say next, I may have things that I “should” say as well as things that I “should not” say, and the trick is toContinue reading “Truth and consequences”
Love anyway
When weariness overtakes you And your fuse is short, Love anyway. When the slap of reality hurts So bad you want to lash back, Love anyway. When the loss is so deep You can’t see straight, Love anyway. When you’re tempted to quit And go running away forever, Love anyway. That’sContinue reading “Love anyway”
‘What the world needs now’
Ray Bradbury said this: “Looking back over a lifetime, you see that love was the answer to everything.” This is a variation on a meme — “God is the Answer. What is your question?” — but for folks (perhaps like me) who are uncomfortable talking about God, let’s talk about love. When a guy livesContinue reading “‘What the world needs now’”
panem et circenses
I heard sensible advice today: “Use technology and try to avoid letting technology use you.” I thought about it while playing a mindless video game for longer than I’d care to admit, binge-watching several episodes of a TV series, and letting my mind go blank doom scrolling. I have quite a few thoughts on theContinue reading “panem et circenses”