Friday, March 22, 2024

Who is 'Not Us'?:

Compassion hurts.
When you feel connected to everything,
you also feel responsible for everything.
And you cannot turn away. 


Your destiny is bound to the destinies of others. 
You must either learn to carry the Universe or be crushed by it. 
You must grow strong enough to love the world, yet 
Empty enough to sit down at the same table with its worst horrors.   


Friday, March 1, 2024

Richard Brautigan: Trout Fishing in America

I can't remember who introduced me to Richard Brautigan.
It seems like I should.
Someone who reads him must be intriguing. 


Trout Fishing in America pdf here

Friday, February 23, 2024

Finding Yourself: In Books

It's much easier to not know things sometimes. Things change, and friends leave. And life doesn't stop for anybody. I wanted to laugh. Or maybe get mad. Or maybe shrug at how strange everybody was, especially me. 

Monday, March 20, 2023

Life at the Trinity Rescue Mission

In 1984 I went through a drug and alcohol program run by Trinity Baptist Church in Jacksonville, Florida. It was free and lasted 90 days. Afterwards, I stayed at their rescue mission; in its old location at 901 Bay Street.

Trinity Rescue Mission 901 Bay Street Jacksonville Florida

Sunday, March 5, 2023

Albert Camus: Suicide in Czechoslovakia

According to the Greek myth, Sisyphus is condemned to roll a rock up to the top of a mountain, only to have the rock roll back down to the bottom every time he reaches the top. The gods were wise, Camus suggests, in perceiving that an eternity of futile labor is a hideous punishment.  

Spark notes: The Myth of Sisyphus


Monday, February 27, 2023

Falling Into the Eternal Moment

 The bad news is you are falling through the air; 
Nothing to hang on to, no parachute. 
The good news is there is no ground.

Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche

Monday, February 20, 2023

Scott Morrison: It’s Completely Up To You

Happiness, freedom, and peace don't lie elsewhere, at some other time.
It's up to you – this very instant – as you're looking at this screen.



Monday, February 13, 2023

The Zen of Walt Whitman

Considered one of America's most influential poets, Walt Whitman aimed to transcend traditional epics and eschew normal aesthetic form to mirror the potential freedoms to be found in America.

Read more: Biography