Seriously, I just finished the best book on meditation I’ve ever read. It’s called “Secular Mediation: 32 Practices for Cultivating Inner Peace, Compassion, and Joy” by Rick Heller. It comes from the Humanist Community at Harvard University. What makes this book so good? It’s not airy-fairy, like other meditation books, where meditation leads to ineffable states. (The book explains it can lead to a sense of selflessness, but only after many years of practice, and…
The unfathomable has happened. I am bookless. I don’t think I’ve been bookless since I was in elementary school. Once I finally got the hang of reading (I was a late reader, having caused first grade teachers some distress with my lack of literary ability) and had a library card, I was never without a stack of books to read by my bedside. Even though people told me that college would ruin me for reading,…
Olio: a miscellaneous collection of things Do you ever run across so many fascinating items online that they back up before you get a chance to share them? I’m suffering that condition now but I’m going to control myself and share only 6 of them. Want to Create Things That Matter? Be Lazy. [99u] – While I agree with the basic premise of this article – that creating things of value, deep things, you have…
Aside from reading books on creativity, I have a tendency to pick books about human behavior and the social sciences. I have three of them by my bedside now, checked out from the library. The one I just finished reading is called, “The Best Place to Work: The Art and Science of Creating an Extraordinary Workplace” by Ron Friedman. This book was an easy read, presenting research that has been done on creating workplaces that…
Olio: a miscellaneous collection of things — My recent internet findings … I had not heard the terms “trigger warnings” or “microagressions” until the past month. Now I’m seeing the whole phenomenon surrounding me. For a good article that explains both, see “The Coddling of the American Mind” from The Atlantic. South Park has also been exploring the issue in recent episodes with the character P.C. Principal. “i will let go of my darkness when…