Book

TUE Something happened today One morning I found myself playing with the phrase ‘doggie treat therapy.’ It was a deliberately silly title, and I didn’t want to pretend that our conversations had become therapy. But the image of a small, friendly book was appealing. Someone could read about an ordinary experience, watch an idea emerge, […]

MON Something happened today Practical problems deserve practical answers. But human experience often has a second layer. That became one of the pleasures of these conversations. We could solve the immediate problem and then, if something still tugged, keep walking. That little tug became important to me. Curiosity did not always arrive as a grand […]

SUN Something happened today One of the patterns that became clearer in these conversations was how often I started with a problem and ended somewhere else. A practical problem would appear. How do I fix this? Why is this happening? What should I do next? Those are useful questions. I am a programmer by background. […]

SAT Something happened today I am wary of that phrase. Some things happened because people made bad choices. Some happened because bodies fail. Some because systems are unfair. Some because weather does not consult us. Some because life contains chance. Meaning does not require us to pretend the fragments were planned. Meaning can be what […]

FRI Something happened today I had been taking stock of a calmer. In my life. Many practical difficulties were still present, yet I was less likely to brace for every new irritation as though it might tip the whole day over. That gave me more room to be curious about my reactions instead of trying […]

THU Something happened today I was listening to Fool’s Overture by Supertramp. I have loved music for much of my life, and one of the things that fascinates me about that piece is that it feels so large and deliberate. Then there is the wonderful irony that Roger Hodgson did not apparently begin with some […]

WED Something happened today You can care about someone and still be unable to fix the system around them. You can help and still make things worse. You can say no and still love. You can leave and still care. Again, life refuses the small boxes. The version of kindness I increasingly trusted was not […]

TUE Something happened today I liked how a very small joke could keep producing more meaning without losing its silliness. The human brain handing itself a doggie treat for noticing something useful still made me smile, yet it was becoming a recognizable way of talking about curiosity, satisfaction, and everyday choices. Sometimes a treat was […]

MON Something happened today For a long time, kindness can sound like softness. Be agreeable. Do not upset people. Help when you can. Smooth things over. But that was never quite the kind of kindness I wanted. The phrase that emerged was fierce kindness. I liked it because it contained its own paradox. Kindness is […]

SUN Something happened today But comfort has never been enough to tell me whether I am living well. Sometimes I have felt intensely alive while struggling. Not because suffering is noble. Because engagement asks something from us. Attention. Effort. Vulnerability. Curiosity. Care. I found myself weeping during this conversation. That surprised me less than it […]