Ancient Wisdom for a Modern World
Week 1 was an interesting week from a Taoist perspective in that I had ample opportunity to practice Wu-Wei, or non-action and other Taoist principles. First, I gave notice at my job and started my own business (though of my course, my business is basically me doing my current job for more money). This happened
I’m a skeptical guy. My mind naturally looks for flaws in ideas, institutions, processes, cultures, etc. This has affected the way I viewed religion for a long time. In elementary school, I was taught that it was important to “believe” or “have faith” in Jesus. As soon as I was old enough to start questioning
As I mentioned several times over the last few blog posts, meditation is quite a difficult activity. Sitting still in a room and focusing only on the breath or another object of concentration requires significant mental energy, which seems odd considering to an outside observer, all you’re doing is being still. The difficulty of meditation
Becoming a Zen master is really friggin’ difficult, and certainly can’t be accomplished by daily twenty-minute self-guided meditation sessions. This week I tried “testing” myself at work to see if my ability to concentrate and focus increase. I tried working in focused bursts to no avail. I could maybe get about 10-15 minutes of work
As of yesterday, I am down to one remaining ice bath I need to take before my Stoicism month is over. Once again, the ice bath itself was uneventful. Let’s talk about that term “uneventful.” It implies that you have an expectation of something happening, something out of the ordinary. If you go to your
Yesterday’s spiritual exercise asked us to read Romans 8:18-25 and asked us to consider the following: What are the particular highlights or milestones of my life, including my life of faith? Note both the highs and the lows, the times of great hope and of challenge or “groaning.” Getting into a college with a NROTC
RSS URL Direct Download Link Who is Chuck Marohn and why an I interviewing him? Chuck Marohn is the founder of the non-profit, Strong Towns, an organization designed to making communities across America and Canada financially strong and resilient. He is also the author of several books, the most recent of which is Strong Towns:
For most Thanksgivings, I am grateful for two things. 1. Time off from work. Four day weekends are amazing. 2. Turkey sandwiches made from leftover turkey (my delicious minimalist sandwich: white bread, turkey, and mayo) I usually don’t spend too much time reflecting on other things I am grateful for, which is a shame. So this year,
RSS URL Direct Download Link Who is Cal Newport? Cal Newport is a computer science professor at Georgetown University who also writes contrarian advice about succeeding as a student, cultivating a meaningful career, and most recently, adjusting the way we use technology so that we can lead deeper, more meaningful lives. I highly recommend reading
Yesterday’s spiritual exercise instructed us to read Luke 11:1-13 and to “accept Jesus’ invitation to ask for what you want.” The passage recounts a story when Jesus instructs his disciple on how to pray and why they should pray. 5 And he said to them, “Suppose one of you has a friend, and you go to