October 2009

October 30, 2009

I’ve been in hermit mode for a week

I’ve been in hermit mode for a week, venturing out of my cave only for the essentials – food, water, and the gym. This time around in the cave, I’ve been studying the nature of power. I’ve spent time with Machiavelli and his famous analysis of statesmanship and power, The...

Read More
October 21, 2009

how do i love thee?

From a poet to her Internet lover: How do I love thee?  Let me count the ways. I’ll get my husband to eat horny goat weed and promise him sex in the woods.  Once there, I’ll slash his throat and stab him in the chest.  Then we can run away...

Read More
October 17, 2009

sex sales and the whole world is buying

A young lady of 15 has written a letter to the local paper. She is lamenting about the rampant sexism in her school. She says she often hears “lads saying how amazing a girl’s behind is or her breasts.” She is quick to add that she is being polite in...

Read More
October 16, 2009

should we stay or should we go now?

The headlines in the British press over the past week have been fixated on President Obama’s upcoming decision on Afghanistan. What should he do – send more troops or look for an honorable way to get out? Perhaps President Obama should turn to the words of a former president –...

Read More
October 10, 2009

is positive thinking undermining us?

I am  in the business of helping people help themselves, or at least guiding them through a journey of self-help.  One of my bones of contention with the self-help, positive psychology industry has been the dumbing-down, over optimistic approach to achieving the good life. Barbara Ehrenreich has a new book...

Read More
October 7, 2009

news and world events

Re-engaging with the news and reading current affairs has reawakened a part of me that has lain dormant for many years now, probably since I left the army 12 years ago.  I think back then, I felt it was my duty as an officer to be keenly aware of world...

Read More
October 6, 2009

what interests me

I’m in transition phase, which means I’m between projects.  I spent the doing some light research for my next project(s).  My morning reflection time yielding a long list of to-do’s, but I ended up blowing most of those off for a trip to Borders.  I wanted to get a feel...

Read More
October 4, 2009

motion

I feel the need for motion.  The past seven months I have been fully engaged with work behind the walls of the corporate castle, and now I feel the need to spend time roaming urban landscapes, wilderness, countryside, and mountains.  I want to re-engage with the world beyond the walls. ...

Read More
October 2, 2009

if-this-then-that

I thought this would be a good story to share because I often here people making their big life goals – the goals they claim they really want – conditional.  They have the ‘someday’ mentality. ‘Someday when all the conditions are perfect, I’ll do the thing I really want to...

Read More