Help me. I am trapped in a haiku factory. Save me before they Thoughts: Jerked and buffeted this way and that, my thoughts run willy-nilly if I don't tame them. Dedication to philosophy helps me rein in my wandering consciousness. For others, it could be dedication to their job or their family or their hobbies. Disordered minds, like scattershot plans, rarely produce the results hoped for.  Today's Meditation: Today's Meditation II: Today's Meditation III:

On the sacred scrolls, Written in unknown letters . . . Enigmatic hymns. Thoughts: Be kind.  My eldest asked me yesterday, if you picked a motto for America, what would it be? So I asked if they wanted actual or aspirational. I went with aspirational.  If I could convince everyone in the country of one thing, that's what I'd shoot for. Today's Meditation: Today's Meditation II:

Teach of the Buddha.  A soulful navel gazing. Shed evil, do good. Thoughts: Noise, vices, evil — all inhabit my meditations today. It's a handy hook for today's thoughts . . . . Noise blocks me from hearing. Hearing the way of Nature guiding my reason. Hearing the voice of conscience that evil is coming, that there's time to change my path. Hearing the worthy criticism, from without and within. Vices build on one another, sapping my energy, sapping my will, draining my time away. One leads to another, to another, to it's just a tiny bit worse, noonewillevennotice. Until towering depths yawn before me. Evil is . . . easy? dead? beige? neutral? unremarkable? Persistent. Persevering. Ubiquitous. It's a fight I can never win permanently. It must be fought every day.  Today's Meditation: Today's Meditation II: Today's Meditation III:

Following in his Footshtomps . Playing violins . It's my idiom . Thoughts: "There is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so.”  Hamlet, Act II, Scene 2 Feelings are neither good or bad, but thinking makes them so.  Feelings just are. It's a common thread for Stoics and Buddhists. We practice awareness of our feelings: What are they? What occasioned them? Accept them. Own them. If necessary, transform them into a better way.  Shed cowardice for stoutheartedness. Let impatience give way to forbearance. Anger to gentleness. Today's Meditation: Today's Meditation II: Today's Meditation III:

Hodgepodge of thoughts swirls Through misty minds, shifty mine's Uncredited role. Thoughts: The kids had fun drawing in chalk on the driveway today. I helped one draw letters using his own body for a template. We made a V and an A.  The coolest part was that, because his legs made the outline for the V and the longest sides of the A, and since they included his feet, it was a SERIF font. These are the times I live for. Today's Meditation: Today's Meditation II: Today's Meditation III: Today's Meditation IV:

Fight! Fight the taxman! Do not gently submit to. Seneca is wrong. Thoughts: Taxes are immoral. Fight them. Push for a voluntary world. Use every "loophole" you can. Pay as little as possible. But but but, student, how can you say this and insist that cosmopolitanism is foundational to Stoic philosophy?  Easy. It's exactly because cosmopolitanism is foundational to Stoic philosophy that I can say this. Taken seriously, Stoic cosmopolitanism means you — you, personally, you in particular and as an individual, YOU — are duty bound to go out and improve your Community. Directly, without intermediary. And that Community, writ large, is most broadly defined. Thus, if we take cosmopolitanism seriously, we'll be out there doing all the things we "get" (have foisted upon us) from taxes. And it would be cheaper, more effective, voluntary, and moral. Today's Meditation: Today's Meditation II: Today's Meditation III: ...

Your pockets filled with Some nothingses or handsets. Surprise! Spanish Inq- Thoughts: If I always face reality, if I admit what's going on . . . yeah, I'm pretty sure that's not me. Id like it to be me. I'm trying to make it be me. But it's not me. I'm better than I used to be, though: much better at finding a way to replace negative feelings and reactions with good ones. I notice my errors more now, catching myself judging someone unfairly, losing my patience quickly, or getting angry. A worthy effort, for sure. Today's Meditation:

See you when you get there .... So six in this line too.  Back to normal now.  Thoughts: Oh I just love that first Meditation. What a wonderful observation. Anything approached with arrogance and pridefulness will be ugly. Mere attitude but it can alter and overpower so many (nominally) positive traits.  Today's Meditation: Today's Meditation II:

Lunging for the first. A second falls unnoticed. Multiple parenting. Thoughts: “There’s an almost inevitable failure built into caring for two people during a moment when one is in crisis and one is not. Because while you may love those people equally, with a fierceness unique to each, you must throw your arms out to catch the one who is failing, and that means you’re not there to catch the other, should they fall too.” ~ Mary Laura Philpott, Bomb Shelter* When a crisis demands my attention, remember, when things calm, to check on and support those who were not the injured / endangered party. That sibling that's been (temporarily) neglected? Maybe they're scared to death because their brother or sister almost died.  Or they're angry because this "crisis" turned out to be not much of anything and they've had X, Y, and Z go wrong in their life. No one noticed them for the duration. Or they're frustrated because the sick person has completely monopolized our...

It's like somewhere gray With raindrops falling out of The sky.  Thoughts: Ways to handle negative feelings and events.....  Avoid assenting to initial impressions. "You are just a phantasm and not at all what you claim to be." Consider, decide, act. Take the long view. "Will I still care about this in a year? Ten? Twenty?" How impactful is this, really?  Take the wide view. "How does this fit into the big picture? Is it important in the grand scheme of things?" What is the reach of this thing?  What would [person I respect] do in this situation? "What would Marcus Aurelius do if he faced this situation? What would Socrates do?" Can I follow their advice?  What would I tell someone else who asked for my advice about it? If this were my child or my spouse or my friend facing this challenge? Can I follow my own advice? Today's Meditation: Today's Meditation II: Today's Meditation III:

Reflex? Impulse? Whim? Habit? Ignorance? Others? Fear? Chance? No! Reason! Thoughts: Acting with a purpose. A primary tenet of Stoicism is that a sage should resist whatever caprice arises as a natural reaction to the world. Instead, we should act according to our reason. ...as Socrates said, we ought not to live a life without examination, so we ought not to accept an appearance without examination, but we should say, Wait, let me see what you are and whence you come... ~ Epictetus, Discourses, 3.12.14-15 In other words (and my preferred formulation):  act , don't re act . Don't let my actions be determined by reflex . Don't let my actions be determined by impulse . Don't let my actions be determined by habit . Don't let my actions be determined by  whim . Don't let my actions be determined by  chance . Don't let my actions be determined by  ignorance . Don't let my actions be determined by fear . Don't let my actions be determined...

Morning ablutions Shake it off. Shake it off. Uh. Make it clean again. Thoughts: Excellence of character. Arête . Virtue. But what, actually, is that? What does it mean to make arête  my goal? Following Nature? Another imprecise term. So much taken as given, as I'll-know-it-when-I-see-it post facto rationalization? But, the thing is, I almost always DO know it when I see it. It pretty much stares me in the face what the correct path is when I am faced with a moral decision. Then it's a matter of having the courage to act on that moral knowledge. Today's Meditation: Today's Meditation II: Today's Meditation III:

Trills and squeaks, never Meows. The cat leaps into Bed. Time to purr. Sleep.  Thoughts: Each day acquire something that will fortify you against poverty, against death, indeed against other misfortunes as well; and after you have run over many thoughts, select one to be thoroughly digested that day. ~ Seneca, Moral Letters, 2.4 Each day I read. Each day I sit and think about the quotes. Sometimes I am serious about maiku, sometimes not. Each day something sticks and makes a difference in my life, however slight. Today's Meditation: Today's Meditation II: Today's Meditation III:

Wanting to go soon, He lies in bed, machines ping. Hope they send him home. Thoughts: My father is still in the hospital. Been 8 days now.  He's feeling better, but they do not yet know what the issue is so they may keep him longer. He really wants to just go home. I'm torn between wanting to help him do what he wants to do and keeping him here for another 2000 tests. This is one of those things which is a little up to me. In a hard, bright line division, I admit this falls into the Not up to me category. But in normal life, I can influence the results.  I can work to convince my dad to stay or I can work to convince the doctors to let him come home. Either way I push has a darn good chance to be the option chosen. It's hard to know which to advocate.  Today's Meditation: Today's Meditation II:

Reading heavy tomes. Its sorta refreshing to Tackle weighty thoughts. Thoughts: Ive been reading some more "serious" philosophy recently — philosophy written for philosophers rather than a lay audience. It recalls my days at uni, comforting in a reminds-me-of-my-youth sort of way. It's been a long time since I walked my way through complex sentences and intricate arguments like this. I appreciate the challenge. That said, I'm still of the opinion that the best writing (of almost any kind) is one which can explain difficult concepts in simple language. Not like watered-down pop philosophy / psychology books, but rather how a true master can express complex truths gently, in a way a prepared mind can accept.  Of course, there's always that ineffable nut, the unexplainable core of true wisdom, that cannot be transmitted from one soul to another, but only pointed to, hinted at, that the student might find their own way to the destination. The tao that can be told is ...

Carnival noises Hey brother what you thinkin'? Tonight it's ready set go. Thoughts: I'm just going to sit here and think about this one. Today's Meditation: Today's Meditation II: Today's Meditation III:

I don't know what goes. I don't know what it all means. I do know I ought. Thoughts: Philosophy is the quintessential ivory tower exercise.  That's fine if that's your goal (I spend several years in uni following this approach), but to my mind that's mostly wasted effort.  Those were years of reading horribly dense texts, written for other philosophers, treating with obscure topics which are valuable only in extraordinarily narrow circumstances, to extremely niche audiences, if at all.   Since then I've realized that, for me at least, philosophy should be practical: it ought to show me how to live a better life.   The ancient Greeks knew this.  While there were certainly obscure topics among the writings of long ago, a huge part of what was taught was meant to help people live a good life.  Socrates, Epicurus, Diogenes, Epictetus . . . all promoted, by words and by deeds, ways to be happier, calmer, satisfied, etc.  Their answers were not al...

What do I pursue? On what do I waste my time? Many stupid things. Thoughts: . . . by "disease" we mean . . . that things which are mildly desirable are thought to be highly desirable. - Sen eca, Moral Letters, 75.11 What do I pursue blindly or, at least, uncritically?  Not fame. That's not my thing. In fact, it's pretty much the opposite of what sounds good to me. Tons of strangers trying to talk to me and hang out with me all day long, every day? Not even close . Bleh. Not money. I've enough and, while more is generally better, we're already able to meet our needs and indulge in many wants. Not other women. I'm very happily married (20+ years) and don't feel the need to go chasing skirts. Not power. I have enough to do trying to run my own life. But even if I had the time, I have zero desire to tell others how to live theirs. So long as people are peaceful, I'm not going to mess with them. So, what then,do I go after when there are better choic...

Driving through traffic, Visiting a friend, old places. New memories made. Thoughts: I need to reread Seneca's letters.  It's been well more than a year and I need a refresher.  (This thought brought to you by the first quote below and the letter P.) Gotta finish some work on a book by A. A. Long first.  Tough sledding there.  Reminds me of my grad work from the Dark Ages.  Visiting a friend from college today.  Haven't seen him in person in decades, but he is the GM for the RPG I've been playing for a few years now so it's not like we haven't talked in that long.  It's just nice that we'll get to sit down together after such a long time. We're meeting where we went to college together.  The 100-mile-drive there after work and the 100-mile-drive back after we hang out are both going to be . . . less than fun . . . but if that's the price I have to pay to see a friend, I will gladly pay it.  I won't enjoy it, but I will pay it. I can recast i...