As we loaded the grenades into his under-armored Humvee, he snapped. He was talking to us one second and violently throwing up his lunch the next. Apparently, loading live explosives into the […]
Virtue
What If Women Cared About Productivity?
Bear with me on this one. It’s an interwoven critique of productivity and sexual essentialism with constructive paradigm shifting on the side. Here’s what I’m asking you to do: Broaden your notions […]
Plastic Soup, Deformed Turtles, and Getting Over Ourselves
I saw the picture below yesterday and my heart sank. I found it here, and while the article was powerful in relation to what’s going on with the large plastic dumps on either […]
What If?
What if… We cared as much about other people as we do about our pets? We spent the time we spend researching celebrities and athletes figuring out what makes our kids tick? […]
Four Easy Reasons to Ignore World Poverty
I’m not feeling well today and was originally going to take the day off from posting, but then I realized it was Blog Action Day and the topic is Poverty. Given that […]
Is this Signal or Noise?
Are you increasing signal or adding noise in your communication with other people? Most of the time you hear people complaining about the noise they get from other people, whether it’s junk […]
Comfort or Excellence: Your Choice.
Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go. – T.S. Eliot Are you comfortable with your life? Are you excelling in your life? […]
What Makes an Act Courageous?
This last week has been a bit strange on the writing front – I’ve mentally written a lot of posts, but I haven’t actually written them. Now we’ll just have to see […]
Make a Difference: Imagine, Then Act!
We live in a world where tragedy befalls millions on a daily basis. The world may be better than it once was, but that doesn’t mean that it’s were it could be. […]
Dirty Hands and Personal Development
Even though I was unable to post this or last Friday’s meditation, it’s still a goal of mine to write something that steps away from the standard topics on Productive Flourishing and […]
How Friends Help You Flourish
Friends and flourishing are like cookies and milk: the addition of the one makes the other so much better. But friends and flourishing are unlike cookies and milk in that you can’t […]
The Triple Filter Test
There’s a common knowledge story kicked around about “The Triple Filter Test.” Sometimes it involves Socrates and other times it involves an Arab scholar, but the truth of the story is the […]
15 Ways to Be A Better Friend
This post is a continuation of the Practicing the Virtues Series. This week, we’ll talk being a better friend. I’ll give a brief recap of where we’re at. We become more virtuous through […]
Making a Habit of Changing Habits
Some people seem to be able to script themselves to change habits almost at whim. Where most of us falter and fight, these people make a quick decision either to radically change […]
12 Ways to Practice Courage
In my overview of Aristotelian ethics, I noted that we become more virtuous through practice. This post gives activities and suggestions that help you practice courage. The virtues are interconnected in a […]