There’s a lot of apocalyptic chatter in the media these days, more so than usual. And you know it will only get worse as unscrupulous people seek to cash in on 2012 hysteria. This, in addition to the usual threats (anthrax, Jihadists, armies of the undead, and the ever-present menace of a robot uprising), has me somewhat worried. It’s not that I buy into the doomsday scenarios (there are plenty to choose from), but it has brought to my attention the need to be prepared when the merde hits the ventilateur. Read more »»

Ever wish you could change the past?

Because if you could, you change who you are now and what’s possible for you in the future. This isn’t science fiction. Who we believe ourselves to be and what we’re capable of is not about events of our past, but how we respond to those events. Every moment of every day, our accumulation of judgment about what the world is and our relationship to it, is determining how we respond to circumstances now and into the future. Most people believe that by accumulating more knowledge and experience they can improve their judgment and avoid repeating the past, or at least improve upon it. But the powerful perspective that comes with wisdom isn’t accumulated, it is revealed. Read more »»

I like to think of myself as a modern man, without a need for a lot of ritual and ceremony in my life. I’m content to let science explain how the universe works, and base my beliefs on the observable behavior of things. Still I find myself wanting to believe in a system that compensates me when things don’t go as expected. This cosmic insurance is the spiritual hedge fund we call faith; the belief in all things supernatural. But I know that looking above for answers will only keep me from looking within. Read more »»

What do you do in your free time? We ask this harmless question to better know a person by their interests or when we want to steer the conversation away from work. I pose it when I sense that people aren’t inspired in their career, because of the way they say things like, “It’s just a job”, with the same tone of resignation one might use in the phrase, “But I can control it with medication”. Free time is a strange concept, because it implies that the rest of our time is not free; we pay for it with our labor. It is only the small remainder of spare time that we can call our own; the leftovers from the banquet of life Read more »»

“We all want to live. And in large part we make our logic according to what we like. But not having attained our aim and continuing to live is cowardice. This is a thin dangerous line. To die without gaining one’s aim is a dog’s death. But there is no shame in this. This is the substance of the Way of the Samurai. If by setting one’s heart right every morning and evening, one is able to live as though his body were already dead, he gains freedom in the Way. His whole life will be without blame, and he will succeed in his calling. — Yamamoto Tsunetomo, Hagakure, “The Book of the Samurai” Read more »»

One winter in college I was visiting Paris, sitting at the bistro near my hotel just watching people. An American couple came in and the husband, in an accent I would best describe as “Chicago detective” (the word “Paris” came out sounding like “Pears”), called the waiter and tried to get “Two diet cokes”. The waiter in classic Parisian style, pretended not to understand what the man was saying. “Can you repeat, Monsieur”, he asked in French. The husband, in classic American style, only spoke louder, adding, “I know you know what I’m talkin’ about here”. The waiter, whom I had heard speak English to some women earlier, continued to feign interest in the conversation saying, “Faites un bel effort, Monsieur.” (make a beautiful effort). Read more »»

Since I started writing on UnboundedLife, I’ve given a thought a lot to what freedom is and what it means in the context of human nature. One theme that I’ve come back to repeatedly is mobility; designing a life from a purposeful future, versus living out an extension of the past. It’s a lofty idea that is easy to talk about but as narrow as the razor’s edge to walk. Last month I was planning to write about how I walk it in terms of the life I’m choosing, but I found myself preoccupied with painful events of the recent past. I felt like until I had honestly moved beyond the sadness of re-experiencing this loss, it would be inauthentic to write about living into a self-chosen future. Kind of like an overweight personal trainer talking about losing weight. Read more »»