A rabbi was asked by one of his students “Why did God create atheists?” After a long pause, the rabbi finally responded with a soft but sincere voice. “God created atheists” he said, “to teach us the most important lesson of them all – the lesson of true compassion. You...
"If the human race is still here in 100 years, it will be because of lots of people doing lots of little things. Bigger things can get co-opted or bought off by the powers that be. But if there are many, many little things going on it will be too...
The opening paragraph of "We’re Obsessed with Labelling Suffering, But Our Power to Think about it Matters More," a post on Mad in America by Charlotte Beale The philosopher Ian Hacking described a looping effect, whereby people adjust themselves to become more like the labels foisted upon them. “Sometimes, our sciences create...
From Pablo Neruda's magnificent book of poems, Odes to Common Things, is this beauty (in English thanks to translator Ken Krabbenhoft). “Ode to the Spoon” Spoon, scoop formed by man’s most ancient hand, in your design of metal or wood we still see the shape of the first palm to which water imparted coolness and savage blood, the throb of bonfires and the hunt. Little spoon in an infant’s tiny hand, you raise to his mouth the earth’s most ancient kiss, silent...
The only thing that makes life possible is permanent, intolerable uncertainty: not knowing what comes next. Ursula K. Le Guin...
I don't read very much poetry, so I'm new to the work of Alberto Rios. So far I love the poems of his I've read—and these words I've been pondering. "I have been around other languages all my life, particularly Spanish, and have too often thought of the act of translation...
These words, written twenty years ago by renowned social constructionist Ken Gergen, are surely worth pondering today. "In important degree, identity politics is a descendent of Western, individualist ideology. It is not the single individual who commands our interest in this case; rather individual identity is conflated with group identity. Individual...
Today's words are from the improv pioneer Viola Spolin from over fifty years ago “Motivation is limited and subjective, it cuts the players off from ongoing stage life, and it implies that you have a reason for everything.” “Words can easily become labels, dead and useless. The word or subject matter should...
Today's object of pondering is from Irshad Manji, author of Don't Label Me "You cannot get people to relate if all you’re going to do is berate." ...
Today's quote is from Groucho, one of my two favorite Marx's. Outside of a dog, a book is a man's best friend. Inside of a dog it's too dark to read. ...
