Category: Books
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People, Food and Other Objects of Sociality in Small Urban Spaces
In his book "The Social Life of Small Urban Spaces", William Whyte presents a number of observations and insightful analyses of the factors that promote or inhibit sociality in various spaces in urban areas. I was reminded of the concept of object-centered sociality that I recently read (and blogged) about: shared objects providing the catalyst…
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Oriah Mountain Dreamer at East West Bookshop, Sunday, April 17
Oriah Mountain Dreamer, author of The Invitation, one of the most inspiring books I’ve ever read, is appearing for a two-hour free (!) seminar at East West Bookshop in Seattle this Sunday, from 2-4pm. The title is "Creativity and the Unfolding of Your Soul: An Afternoon with Oriah Mountain Dreamer", so I imagine this will…
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On Friendship: Symmetry vs. Karma
I recently read Ralph Waldo Emerson‘s essay on "Friendship" in "Self Reliance and Other Essays". As with his essay "Self Reliance", there is much with which I agree, but some significant issues with which I disagree … most notably his emphasis on the requirement of symmetry in friendships. Among the themes Emerson emphasizes that resonate…
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On Karma and Being a Mensch
I just finished posting another goal on 43 Things: "be a mensch", in the sense that Guy Kawasaki describes in his book "The Art of the Start": Mensch is the Yiddish term for a person who is ethical, decent and admirable. It is the highest form of praise one can receive from people whose opinions…
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Self-Reliance vs. Interdependence: Inherence, Adherence and Coherence
I read Ralph Waldo Emerson‘s essay "Self-Reliance" during the return flight from my New Warrior Training Adventure staffing. The essay reinforces many of the principles I revisited during the weekend, which resonate with me deeply — such as the inherent integrity of each man’s mind (and soul) and the dangers of conformity and blindly adhering…
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Playing the Edge, Finding One’s Spot and Being One’s True Self
During tonight’s Love and Logic class, Cindy Horst encouraged parents to stretch to allow children to experience more consequences directly, rather than being protected or rescued from those consequences. The Love and Logic program can be rather extreme with respect to loving detachment, and while parents may not want to adopt such an extreme approach,…
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Zen, Motorcycle Maintenance and the Church of Reason
danah recently wrote an interesting and provocative blog post about "why i’m in academia", which reminded me of some interesting and provocative statements made by Robert Pirsig about what he calls the Church of Reason in his book "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance" (not that I want to imply that they share the…
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Love and Logic: Learning and Growing through Mistakes
The night after reading about the art of making mistakes wakefully, I attended the first class of a four-class seminar on Love and Logic, wonderfully facilitated by Cindy Horst. The premise of this approach to parenting a child is to "empower him/her to make his/her own decisions, live with his/her mistakes and grow through the…
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A Path With Heart: Wakefully Making Mistakes Along the Way
After returning from my Warrior Monk retreat, I started re-reading "A Path With Heart: A Guide through the Perils and Promises of Spiritual Life", a book written by Jack Kornfield, co-founder of the Insight Meditation Society and Spirit Rock Meditation Center, that offers a path to greater mindfulness and integrity through meditation and other spiritual…
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Oprah on The Joy of Connecting (and Disconnecting)
The December issue of O: The Oprah Magazine has a special section on the benefits of connecting with and relating to one another … and (of course) a number of suggestions for ways that people can connect — or disconnect — with others. I felt more than slightly self-conscious going through the checkout line of…