Ancient Wisdom for a Modern World
When I taught English in Egypt, I assigned homework for the students to complete. There were a few students who were habitually late with their work so I would ask them directly if they were going to be on time. They would routinely respond “Insha’Allah,” which means “God willing.” In this particular context, the response
On my Facebook feed, I have a couple of friends that routinely post articles around the theme of women being empowered about sex. The general idea is that women should be able to enjoy sex and the pursuit of sex without being negatively judged. The argument is that because men can freely pursue sex and
I traditionally have chafed under authority. Not that I’m a rebel or anything; I just dislike being forced to do things I don’t want to do, like most people I assume. There is nothing worse than having a plan for the day, or, having a plan to do nothing for the day, and say, having
Over the past month or so I’ve been rotating through a few different books, all of which are of the pop academic genre. For example, I’m about halfway through The Hour Between Dog and Wolf: How Risk-Taking Transforms Us, Body and Mind. It’s a fun book by a former trader turned academic that describes,
I like to sleep in on weekends. I’m a morning person generally, but on the weekend, I sleep until 10 or 11 so. Unfortunately, Islam doesn’t allows you to skip your morning prayer (Fajr) just so you can sleep in. What this means for me is that I have to get up some time between 4:20
Buddhism: Day 12 and 13 The Myers-Briggs Personality Assessment is a popular tool used by individuals and businesses a like to determine where people fall on a number of personality traits. Are you more introverted or extroverted? Do you like big ideas or details? Do you to like to plan to improvise? I’m a fan
There is something deeply gratifying about coming up with an insight that no one else has thought of. If you’ve ever been in a situation where you were helping someone work through a problem, and you’ve said or asked something that caused the other person to say “wow, I hadn’t thought about that before!” you
There is an interesting cognitive bias called confirmation bias in which people interpret information to suit their worldview or desires. For example, if you think your manager is a jerk, you will interpret many of his actions to be jerk-like, even if they aren’t. You may also neglect instances in which your boss is
One of the ways I’m practicing Taoism this month is by practicing Tai Chi. There are a few classes in my neighborhood, but at $40 per class, the $10 Tai Chi for Beginners DVD suddenly seemed more “spiritual.” It appears as if the Tao guided me to purchasing the less expensive option…. Tai Chi is
Every morning, I go through my prayer ritual, or puja, to Ganesh. It involves a series of steps, one of which is lighting incense. I’ve grown quite fond of the ritual, especially the incense. It’s incredibly pleasant to have your morning coffee and write while breathing in the calming aroma of incense. Initially, I thought