The thoughts that shape my writing
Fragments of history, reflections on memory, and glimpses of the human thread that runs through it all.
Explore by Theme
This journal brings together essays that explore history, thought, and the human stories beneath them. You can read by theme or browse chronologically.
History · Philosophy · Culture
The Real Gold in Life Is Health
I have spent the past five weeks relearning a lesson I thought I already understood. On Christmas Day, I was hit by shingles. Not mildly. Not inconveniently. Properly.
The Man Who Tried to Save the World with Good Manners
Everyone wants a better world, but most of us hope someone else will sort it out. Confucius had a better idea. He said order starts close to home — in how we speak, act, and treat one another.
The Man Who Thought Everything Was Made of Water
The world once seemed senseless: storms, plagues, misfortune blamed on angry gods. Thales proposed a different idea — the universe governed by observable forces, not moods. He argued everything arose from water. It sounds odd now, but it was the first attempt to explain the world without Olympus — the birth of reason from a single question: “Shall we think about it?”
The Buddha
Before Plato built his Republic or Descartes began doubting his own existence, the Buddha was already onto something: that maybe the mind is both the problem and the key.
Big Ideas (Some I Understand, Some I Don’t and Some That Make My Brain Explode)
At the time of writing this (2025), I’ve been on this lump of rock we call home for seventy-one summers. In January 2026, I’ll be entering my seventy-second winter, and I hope there are many more left. But who knows?
The Future Never Arrives
We spend much of our lives waiting. Waiting for the right time, the next opportunity, the moment when life will finally begin. But here’s the hard truth: the future never arrives. When it comes, it isn’t the future anymore — it’s just today.
The Pursuit of Purpose
Purpose is personal—found in learning, creativity, health, service, relationships, or compassion. It’s often quiet: daily kindness, steady habits, noticing what others miss.