The last time I went to an optometrist was about four years ago. When they checked my eyes, the doctor said she saw something that she would want to keep an eye on; she also wanted to know if I had any family history of certain diseases. That was the first time I heard about … Continue reading (Personal) Seeing the Future
Tag: self-reflection
(Personal) What I Learned by Being Alone
There's this idea in Buddhism about the Noble Eightfold Path -- after you've taken every step along the path, what comes next? You've attained Right View and Intention, Right Speech and Action and Livelihood, Right Effort and Mindfulness and Concentration. Where do you go from there? You attain Right View after that. Like the wheel … Continue reading (Personal) What I Learned by Being Alone
(Buddhism) Using Anger in Practice
Anger is uncomfortable, but we need to be more careful about how we get rid of it.
(Personal) What Happened in January?
January 2016 was an extraordinarily busy month; everything just took off like a rocket, and it was all that I could do to hold on. Most of the work was anticipated, but I think I under-estimated the effect of a lot of it, and of course my still-developing organizational skills weren't quite up to the … Continue reading (Personal) What Happened in January?
(Writing) Howdy, Br’er!
This month for Fiction Friday, I'll be giving the Br'er scenario another try. I'm not sure what people thought of the couple fragments I posted last month, but I wasn't really happy with them -- I think they came across far too "woe is me, poor special snowflake" and less "these are some things that … Continue reading (Writing) Howdy, Br’er!
(Writing) New Year’s Resolutions, 2016
It feels like I swing back and forth with resolutions from year to year. One year, I'm all business with concrete resolutions that have a pass/fail success condition. Write 6 short stories. Read 10 novels. That sort of thing. The next year, having been beaten down by life and the unexpected, I ease back to … Continue reading (Writing) New Year’s Resolutions, 2016
Kwanzaa 2015: Kuumba (Creativity)
2015 has been an amazing year for me in a lot of different ways, but one of my absolute favorites is learning about the wonderful people who are putting themselves out there with their stories. This year I got to meet Nora Jemisin (author of "The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms") at Writers With Drinks in San … Continue reading Kwanzaa 2015: Kuumba (Creativity)
Kwanzaa 2015: Nia (Purpose)
Why are we here? The answer to that question depends on who you are and what you believe. Many people believe that we're here to reflect the glory of God and praise His creation; there are a lot of different ways to do that, but if it leads you to a more positive and compassionate … Continue reading Kwanzaa 2015: Nia (Purpose)
(Personal) Choices
It's that time. Best of the year lists are popping up all over the pop-culture and entertainment blogs. Books, movies, TV shows, art installations, plays and musicals, even memes are being reviewed so we can try to make sense of the past twelve months. We spent how much time obsessed over that back in February? … Continue reading (Personal) Choices
(Personal) Going Back to Go Forward
My childhood was spent in a procession of hostile places. At home, I had a severe, distant mother and an alcoholic father to tend with; my sister got into trouble a lot and ran away from home several times, so there was always something terrible going on there. At school I was a poor, shy … Continue reading (Personal) Going Back to Go Forward