Mindblown: a blog about philosophy.

Often we set standards and expectations for ourselves that would be more realistic if we lived in a world redesigned by our egos where the first law of thermodynamics tended toward efficiency instead of entropy. Many of us apply standards of perfectionism to ourselves, our lives and others, that do not take into account the…

What good fortune can possibly surpass the value of a rich inner life? Yes, for thousands of years, the earth’s resources have largely been ruled by extroverted men of action, but as Mark put it, “For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?” (Mark…

“Don’t grow up. Grow forever.” — anonymous Valuing prolonged adolescence sounds counterintuitive, I know. Indeed, our culture abounds with examples of the worst sort of prolonged adolescence, such as narcissistic baby boomers desperately and pathetically trying to hold onto the things of youth. I have often quoted the Mary Renault character who said, “Man must…

“Don’t grow up. Grow forever.” — anonymous Valuing prolonged adolescence sounds counterintuitive, I know. Indeed, our culture abounds with examples of the worst sort of prolonged adolescence, such as narcissistic baby boomers desperately and pathetically trying to hold onto the things of youth. I have often quoted the Mary Renault character who said, “Man must…

The dark night of the soul can be a zone of intense anguish where the will to live is challenged. It is also a zone where great transformation is possible. Carl Jung, in his study of alchemy, related the dark night of the soul to the “Nigredo.” Nigredo is an alchemical term for a condition…

“Our ideas about death define how we live our lives.” — Dag Hammarskjold The fear of death (in you or others) is a sometimes hidden, potent force affecting personality and behavior in strange and varied ways. To compensate for this fear, some will seek to control others, objects, money, the appearance of youth, etc., in…

“All things must change to something new, to something strange.” — Henry Wadsworth Longfellow Human incarnation is usually a fluctuation between metamorphosis and stagnation. As the Dylan lyric puts it: “he not busy being born is busy dying.” Norie Huddle, in her book Butterfly, describes in poetic language the metamorphosis of caterpillar into butterfly: “The…

“All things must change to something new, to something strange.” — Henry Wadsworth Longfellow Human incarnation is usually a fluctuation between metamorphosis and stagnation. As the Dylan lyric puts it: “he not busy being born is busy dying.” Norie Huddle, in her book Butterfly, describes in poetic language the metamorphosis of caterpillar into butterfly: “The…

“All things must change to something new, to something strange.” — Henry Wadsworth Longfellow Norie Huddle, in her book Butterfly, describes in poetic language the metamorphosis of caterpillar into butterfly: “The caterpillar’s new cells [after it has built its cocoon] are called ‘imaginal cells.’ They resonate at a different frequency. They are so totally different…

“All things must change to something new, to something strange.” — Henry Wadsworth Longfellow Human incarnation is usually a fluctuation between metamorphosis and stagnation. As the Dylan lyric puts it: “he not busy being born is busy dying” Norie Huddle, in her book Butterfly, describes in poetic language the metamorphosis of caterpillar into butterfly: “The…