Aligned by Nature, With Nature, naturally. It flows. It just is. Thoughts: "No. She's not black. She's not like that. Her mind's not black. Her soul's not black. She's a midnight blue. She's of the night, but she's not the night. But she thrives in the dark. But she's not black."* A great friend of mine is doing some work for me. Today is a beautiful day so he's over here with his daughter and her friend and they're helping him.  Meanwhile, I'm hearing him talk with them. How much he loves them in how he speaks with them. The things they talk about — import things like law and legality and morality — and how he's demonstrating for them, living, the principles he wants them to know. And they're good principles. Like Antoninus, he is a Stoic philosopher not by study, but by nature. Today's Meditation: Today's Meditation II: Today's Meditation III: ======= * NOTE: The question

Woohoo! I got it! The thing I wanted is mine! Plus one year: it's crap! Thoughts: Three powerful meditations today. All worth the pondering at length. What a marvelous day today: beautiful skies; nice temp; refreshing breeze.... Birds gaily singing "Hey! I'm healthy with good bones and glossy feathers. Do me do me do me!" I think I'll end this early and focus on philosophizing out and about in life today. Today's Meditation: Today's Meditation II: Today's Meditation III:

How to become a... Ways to be successful at... Top ten tactics to... Thoughts: “If I knew then what I know now, I would have done things differently.” I must always be ready to admit errors, to see the truth in criticism, to learn from and fix my mistakes.  Let me appreciate and thank those who show me my faults. They are doing me a great service. Today's Meditation: Today's Meditation II: Today's Meditation III:

Red of blood and life. Yellow of bees and flowers. Green of life and spring. Thoughts: I should not rely on others to manage my life. To do the things that need be done, large or small.  I am better than that.  Sometimes.  Today's Meditation: Today's Meditation II:

And when the bough breaks,  The trunk will remain. Still. Still. The old ent yet lives. Thoughts: "The big oak stood in the yard. It had survived the storm but was not whole. Branches and even one big limb lay where wind and lightning had thrown them. Leaves had been torn away, leaving the tree looking like it was dying or dead." And that , the shedding of parts to save the whole, is how I can survive even such trials as may rend my soul. Let it go. Let it fall. Let me live.* Today's Meditation: Today's Meditation II: ========== * No, I'm not going through anything. I read that passage and it inspired my thoughts. That is all. 

Hey man! What's the plan? Abandon traditional Haiku thoughts, structures. Thoughts: Got some lab tests today. We'll see how they turn out. Another reminder that, while health is something I can influence, it isn't something I can control. This week, I've started watching what I eat again. I've added too many pounds and let my various ailments continue on without benefit of a proper diet. Time to be better.  Today's Meditation: Today's Meditation II:

I gots the classic Blues rollin' in the background. T Bone . Etta . BB . Blind . Thoughts: It took me way, waaay too long to realize that happiness doesn't mean pleasure. It's not about fun. It's not about food or sex or drink or drugs —cheap substitutes for actual happiness. And I used to think that happiness was a destination. It's a place (or state) I could achieve and then  everything would be all right. Then I would finally be done and could sit back and enjoy it. Only to find that real happiness, for me anyway, comes from being a good person. From loving others. From helping. From making a meaning for myself and living that meaning as best I can.  Today's Meditation: Today's Meditation II: Today's Meditation III:

Rising anger ebbs With benefit of the doubt. Presumption of innocence. Given to others. Thoughts: Someone offends me.  Worse, they meant  to do that.   That driver almost hit me on purpose .  My friend made an inconsiderate comment specifically to hurt my feelings .  My coworker did a poor job because  they want me to fail. Or . . . sometimes, things happen on accident. The driver didn't see me.  The hand I saw was them waving an apology, not giving me the bird.  My friend did not realize that was a touchy subject for me and, if I'd bothered to ask him about it, he would have apologized and changed his behavior.  My coworker's daughter is sick and they've been distracted.  If I'd followed up with them two days ago like I should have, this whole thing might never have happened. What shall I say? We are influenced not merely by calumnies but by suspicions, and at the very look and smile of others we may fly into a rage with innocent persons because we put the worst c

Reveling passions Cloud nine, never comin' down Feelin' pretty good. Thoughts: Do you really need to have an opinion on what kind of food is served at your daughter’s wedding (even if you are paying for it)? Do you need to have an opinion on the way they do their hair? Their friends are their friends—what does it matter what you think of them or their parents? So what if they like music that sounds weird to you? So what if they want to raise their own kids a different way? ~ Ryan Holiday, The Daily Dad, 230419 So what. Such a simple adjunct to any statement. Such a great tool for reevaluating importance and relevance, assumptions and biases. I need to remember to use it more often. Anytime I'm becoming anxious or angry or frustrated.  This easy exercise can, and almost assuredly will , reset my concept of the situation and grant me release from the negative passions I fall prey to. Today's Meditation: Today's Meditation II: Today's Medi

I wonder when calm Skies drift over a spring day Do they think of me? Thoughts: Do people remember me? (Not in the trivial sense that we know others exist, but in a realer, more personal way.) Is that important? It's not something under my control, so I shouldn't care about it. But I guess I do. I'm not looking for a legacy or notice from the wider world, that part, at least, I can ignore with ease, but that my friends and family remember me. Fondly. And often. But that's a common enough dream, I expect. One I've fallen for but am working on. Today's Meditation: Today's Meditation II:

Ambient timing, Turns thoughts into  distractions. Meditating not. Thoughts: Talked with my second child about Zeno and Cleanthes and Chrysippus and Cicero and Seneca and Epictetus and Junius Rusticus and Marcus Aurelius tonight. We covered the basic history of Stoicism as well as its fundamental precepts. It was glorious. Today's Meditation: Today's Meditation II: Today's Meditation III:

Control the rebound. All glory on the Star's side. Reach 1000 points. Thoughts: Do I have a duty to obey? Only those commitments I freely choose to take on. Forced duty is no duty at all. But to be virtuous, I must expand my care beyond my self, family, and friends to encompass all of humanity.  I must do what I can to improve the lot of the cosmopolis, not just those in my immediate circle.  Today's Meditation:

Lonely is the night When you find yourself alone. Hear the engines roar. Thoughts: [I started this yesterday (3/9) but fell asleep before I finished it.] Seeking escape is a hobby I pursue all too often. Trying different ways to inject something into my life that is missing. A something I can't identify or name, yet I seek it anyway. But why? I love my wife. I love my kids. I like them, too. They're good people.  My job is acceptable, though not a joy. I'm good at it, my coworkers are, by and large, good people and competent. The pay is good. My hobbies are fun, if too seldom. I play an RPG once a week and play Ultimate twice a week (if the fields aren't too muddy from rain).  I read my philosophy (almost) daily, dyeing my mind in the thoughts of those who have come before me.  So what's missing that I keep looking for? Today's Meditation: Today's Meditation II:

Easter eggs and hunts Aha! There's one in the nest! Children giggling. Thoughts: Had some friends over for an Easter egg hunt today. Made me realize, again, just how blest we are. And it hit a melancholy note as well: one of my favorite pictures of my son is from the egg hunt in my parents backyard. Instead of letting that thought get me down, I recommited to loving my family all the more.  It's the best thing I can do. Today's Meditation: Today's Meditation II: Today's Meditation III:

Legend has it that Nobody knew and nobody knows How the Pobble was robbed. Thoughts: I love doing lessons with my kids.  Yesterday, we spent 30-45 minutes examining the  connections between the lyrics of The Moss by Cosmo Sheldrake and the poems of Edward Lear . Here's the lesson I laid out for my kids: ======================= First, read the lyrics to The Moss ( text , video ) by Cosmo Sheldrake. (Yes, the one we listen to in the car sometimes.) Cosmo based much of this song's lyrics on references to the poetry of Edward Lear. Lear wrote nonsense poems — poems which often use made up words and are meant to be enjoyed as much for the sounds they employ as the meaning (or lack of meaning) they portray. The books of Dr. Seuss are modern examples of nonsense poetry. You may have heard of Lear's most famous poem, The Owl and the Pussycat ( text , video ). While not mentioned by Sheldrake, The Owl and the Pussycat introduces many of the themes found in the poems he does

Sliding into first. — Crack! — the ball goes high, higher.... Sliding into third. Thoughts: Thoughts I'm not generally interested in baseball.... Even though baseball isn't usually my thing, I can appreciate that my attitude changes to it according to the situation.  Most days, I never even think about it.  Other days, something forces it into my consciousness such as an invite from a friend to Dollar Dog Night at the Ballpark. The point is that things change from day to day or hour to hour.  The same applies to relationships. Mostly inverse to how I feel about baseball, my relationship with my wife is 90% love and affection, 5% indifference, and 5% problems. The core though, the foundation of who we are together, is so deep and so solid that even those times when we manage to royally piss each other off, we know, definitely  know , that there's no question we will rebound from this and make good our commitment to each other. We  know  that bad times will come up. We accep

Woops.  Forgot to post this. Ok. No problem.  Keep going. Oh no! World burning! Thoughts: "Remember that time you thought a life lesson was your one true love?" How much nicer would it have been if I'd known about Stoicism back then?  If I'd already learned how to better accept reality?  If I'd known how to assess a passion without assenting to it?  If I'd seen the warning signs of the relationship's damaged foundation and had the opportunity to either change how I approached things so as to fix them or to recognize impending doom and gotten out before the damage began? Today's Meditation: Today's Meditation II: Today's Meditation III:

Dyed in the purple, Habitual thoughts color My mind in hued swirls. Thoughts: My girl, my girl, don't lie to me Tell me, where did you sleep last night? In the pines, in the pines Where the sun don't ever shine I would shiver the whole night through Sometimes I just love old blues.  I could listen to it for hours on end, parsing the sounds and the meanings, appreciating the skill and the art. Other times, I can take it or leave it. I Got the Stoic Blues I got the Stoic blues Yeah I got the Stoic blues Which don't exist because we use our rational mind to replace bad passions with better choices yeah Perhaps lyricist is not my calling....  Today's Meditation: Today's Meditation II:

Mad-Ku The complete <noun> of <Name of a famous person> <Is / Are> so <adjective>. Thoughts: The other day I bought a four books series called Socrates' Children by Peter Kreeft .  I may regret that now. In this four-volume series, Kreeft delivers, with his characteristic wit and clarity, an introduction to philosophy via the hundred greatest philosophers of all time. Socrates’ Children examines the big ideas of four major eras—ancient, medieval, modern, and contemporary—and immerses the reader in the “great conversation,” the ongoing dialogue among the great thinkers of history, including the most influential philosopher of all: Socrates, the father of Western philosophy. I thought it might be a nice set to use to introduce my kids to a broader group of philosophers.  Before purchasing, I read the reviews and did some spot checks of the text.  Everything looked fine. Having spent a few minutes with the Ancient Philosophers (volume 1), I read through Kreeft

Spring is here for sure. Sunday morn, clear skies. Stoa.  This is the reason. Thoughts: Uninvited thoughts, like uninvited guests, can be invited to leave.  Today's Meditation: Today's Meditation II: Today's Meditation III: Today's Meditation IV: