I hear the birds call. I hear the blues a callin'. I hear myself think. Thoughts: An old friend called today and told me there's a good chance they are moving back to where I live.  He's been one of my closest friends since we were freshmen in high school, some 40-odd years ago. He was best man at my wedding. I officiated his. He and his amazing wife moved away in 2017 or 2018.  We were quite sad to see them go, but we were happy for them because it was what they really wanted. Now, they may be coming back.  I gotta say it was a good day. Today's Meditation: Today's Meditation II:

Attention. Focus. Curiosity. Concern. Reason. Assent. Act. Thoughts: Actions or words? Both. Both is good. They should align completely. If one suffers, it's always action. Failure to live up to my professed standards. Today's Meditation: Today's Meditation II:

Bit of breathing room Looking up and reflecting. Golden and shining. Thoughts: What am I aiming at?  Virtue. But what is virtue? Wisdom. Justice. Courage. Temperance.  Love. Kindness. Honesty. Loyalty. Integrity. Generosity. Forgiveness. Empathy. Sturdiness. Willingness. Humor. Patience. Attention. Understanding. Respect. Civility. Determination. Curiosity. Creativity. Sacrifice. Today's Meditation: Today's Meditation II: Today's Meditation III:

Error corrected Turned it on and off again. Ctrl alt dlt. Thoughts: Listen more. Show more interest. Be more interested. Ask more questions. Seek understanding. Today's Meditation: Today's Meditation II: Today's Meditation III:

Kids are so insane. Science fair finalists . . . Wow! What these kids can do . . . 🤯 Thoughts: Helping at a science fair. The things these young people are doing. Jaw-dropping, amazing stuff from new techniques to improve yield in hydroponics to inventing a new kind of mammogram machine which is less onerous to use, to investigating the connections between one thing I couldn't begin to understand and a different thing also outside my range. I'm telling you . . . it gives me all kinds of hope for our world.  Today's Meditation: Today's Meditation II: Today's Meditation III: Today's Meditation IV:

I am the yolk man.  Cool coo cachoo. (Bless you! Thanks!) Earth is the shell, man. Thoughts: Happiness outside my body is fickle. Maybe it'll happen. Maybe it won't.  If I pursue fame, maybe no one cares. If I pursue wealth, maybe my ship gets wrecked. If I pursue "achievement," maybe Fate intervenes and I get skipped for that promotion or maybe the wind shifts just a bit and I don't make the catch. How much better for my happiness to be internal, based on things that are up to me? Today's Meditation: Today's Meditation II: Today's Meditation III: Today's Meditation IV:

HOCKEY HEROICS! By the darn Kraken tonight. Stars'll win next time. Thoughts: (I think I may have coined one there......) Do I need a reason to love my fellow humans? I expect some people have behaviors they file under love which may not be, um, widely accepted. This is an error I should try to remedy. Try to help them understand why what they're doing isn't right, isn't love.  I hope my friends love me enough, trust me enough, to tell me my moral errors that I may fix them.  Today's Meditation: Today's Meditation II: Today's Meditation III:

No one my servant. Let all of us live in peace.  No one my master. Thoughts: Freedoooommmmm ! (Yes, it leads where you think it leads.) All the Meditations below touch on it. In Stoic thought, freedom seems a byproduct of approach, never a goal. It's a freedom of will, unconcerned, deliberately unconcerned, with freedom in the political or economic realms. And it's the only true freedom we'll ever have. But, to risk unquiet, to put my tranquility in peril, I think often on the nature of political freedom. No masters. No slaves. To put it succinctly. I believe all peaceful interactions must be voluntary to be moral. I do not believe in any authority not freely given by those who would obey. No one, literally, has the right to command and expect to be obeyed simply because they claim authority. Now maybe their's is a good option, one we might willingly chose to accept. Fine. Yippee!  We have cooperation. That's awesome. I love working with you. But do not believe ...

Through the looking glass, Multitudes staring at me. I am me. Reflect. Thoughts: “Nothing is cheap if it is superfluous.” ~ Marcus Porcius Cato (the Elder) Be satisfied. What I have is what I previously pined for. What I do not have, I am living quite well without. Gather not unnecessary things.  Today's Meditation:

Unlikely heroes. Big damn heroes, one and all. Brandy for heroes? Thoughts: You were created neither to force nor obey. I was created neither to force or obey. Why is everyone forcing and obeying? Today's Meditation: Today's Meditation II:

Lots of thoughts on death. Lots of thoughts of focused heart. Lots of reflection. Thoughts: "In theory these mementos serve to bring back the moment. In fact, they only serve to make clear how inadequately I appreciated the moment when it was here.” ~ Joan Didion on thinking of the items of her lost loved ones I have mementos of my son. They bring to life some of the wonderful person he was. And yet, as Ms. Didion says above, they all show me just how cavalierly I squandered my time with him. There was always tomorrow. Always another day to play the game he wanted to play. Always time to read him another story the next day. Until there wasn't. His passing refocused my attention with those I love. I'm not perfect. I still let things slide, planning on getting to them The Next Day.  But not nearly as much as before. And there are many times I've now paid special attention, trying to gain every last drop of experience with my family and give them every last bit of my at...

Thoughts: He would have been 14 today, my sweet boy. When we lost him, I cried and cried and went numb. I was lost for days. Things happened. I don't know what. It was all one, interminable thing: my son was dead and my world was changed. And because of my personal grief, I was not there as well as I should have been for my wife and my other children. I was not able to give them the support they needed in those early days because I gave up and allowed myself to wallow. I was not a Stoic, then, though I'm not sure how much of a difference it would have made. I most assuredly wasn't, and still am not, a Sage. I think I get what Epictetus is saying. It seems to me that he's talking about the long(-er) run. He's not saying you would have no emotions — emotions happen, fighting them is a fool's errand. He's saying choose a better path than the chronic wailing and gnashing of teeth. The type of reaction which seems performance. He's saying that we should deal...

Birds chirping in trees Care nothing for our problems. There's a lesson there. Thoughts: 1. Stay calm.  2. Do the right thing.  Marcus's simple rubric for how to make decisions. ( Meditations, 8.5 ) Think about the situation. Strip away my biases and preconceptions. Distance myself from the emotive aspects and try to see just the facts. By evaluating things calmly and rationally, I give myself the best chance to judge things as they are rather than as I fear, or wish, them to be.  Accuracy counts more than speed. Get it right through patience and clarity. Focus on virtue. Weigh the moral costs first and, all other things being equal, then consider practical effects. Preserving and improving my character trumps all else. Helping others follows. Kindness counts. Matters of taste and preference and practicality fall last. Today's Meditation: Today's Meditation II: Today's Meditation III:

Thoughts: And old friend's mom died yesterday. They were hit by a truck. She was injured and survived. Her mom died. Today, we live. Today's Meditation:   So today is the right day to love, believe, do and mostly live.  Today's Meditation II: Today's Meditation III:

Her mom died today. She's in hospital. IC. Hope she'll be ok. Thoughts:

Highlights of seasons. Stept up when called upon. Exact, as needed. Thoughts: ~80 minutes of the season left for the Stars. Failing someone bending the rules of the local universe in their favor, the Stars will fall to the Golden Knights. Thanks for a great season, Stars! And #GoPanthers! I've been a hockey fan since the Stars moved to Dallas in 1993. Cheered with the best of 'em! Though they'd sometimes disappoint, I never gave up my fanhood. And, though I was happy when they won, I was usually able to keep disappointment in check in bad times. I enjoy supporting the team, but I don't invest in it emotionally. It's always been a clearly defined preferred indifferent to me. Now I jusr have a word for it. Today's Meditation: Today's Meditation II:

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: