As an exercise, I tried rewriting an essay I wrote for this blog, Ergot on Rye, in the Hemingway editor. I learned that my writing in too academic. It is too hard to read. Expressions need to be simpler. I need to use fewer qualifiers. The Hemingway editor helps me break down some of those … Continue reading Lessons Learned from the Hemingway Editor
Tag: life lessons
Patti Smith Interview: Advice to the Young
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L2EO3aXTWwg "'Build a good name,' rock poet Patti Smith advises the young. 'Keep your name clean. Don’t make compromises. Don’t worry about making a bunch of money or being successful. Be concerned about doing good work and protect your work.'"
Hoodoos
...the hoodoo. There are certain people you meet in life who are like the locomotives that always used to blow up—people who, wherever they go, disaster always ensues. One of my main pieces of advice is: Stay away from hoodoos. Sometimes hoodoos are very affectionate and they like to hug you, and I always burn … Continue reading Hoodoos
A Deeper Dive: Reflections on a Four-Year Silent Meditation Retreat
"Wherever we may be in our practice, we’ve all at times asked ourselves: What would it be like if I sat a little longer? Perhaps after our first afternoon, or daylong silent retreat, we thought—'I was really able finally to settle in there and experience stillness. It was powerful, and some interesting thoughts arose. What … Continue reading A Deeper Dive: Reflections on a Four-Year Silent Meditation Retreat
Sea Change, Rich & Strange
"Nothing of him that doth fade / but doth suffer a sea-change / Into something rich and strange." —Percy Shelley, The Tempest Sea change, rich and strange. Swim in strange waters. Armed with beauty and circus, wage war on the monotony of life. Designate time for what matters, and be a connoisseur of the free … Continue reading Sea Change, Rich & Strange
Life Doesn’t Evolve in a Tomb
Yesterday's clarity is today's stupidity.-Ikkyu Sojun Erikson's stages of psychosocial development provides a useful framework for thinking about individual evolution and the common pattern most human beings follow. It shows that as life progresses, we are dealing with the essential and different questions at different stages of life: What kind of world is it? Do … Continue reading Life Doesn’t Evolve in a Tomb
The One Year Rule
If you want your life to change, wait a year. It'll change. Of course, it may not be for the better. A study in 2008 found that happiness tends to follow a U-shaped curve, where the lowest level of happiness occurs somewhere around age 46. Yet, there are confounding factors. A death of a spouse, … Continue reading The One Year Rule
What Does It Mean To Be Amish?
There were a group of tourists in a bus in Amish country. Getting off the bus, they saw an old Amish man standing nearby. One of the tourists asked the old Amish man, "What does it mean to be Amish?" The old Amish man, who we'll call Amos, started talking about Jesus, and before too … Continue reading What Does It Mean To Be Amish?
The Parable of Fish & Turtle
"Once there was a fish and a turtle who were friends. They had been living in the same lake together for some time. One day the turtle decided to visit the land surrounding the lake. She had a good look around and came back to tell her friend the fish of the wonders she had … Continue reading The Parable of Fish & Turtle
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