Mindblown: a blog about philosophy.
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Lake Effect
It’s here! The television said we are getting an inch an hour, but I just shoveled four inches, and by the time I was done, I turned around and there was another inch behind me. We all went snow-hiking as a family today, found a cool lean-to, and had a winter cookout. Cold, but fun.…
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Feeling Fidgetty
With things so touch-and-go for my father-in-law, we’ve had a lot of trouble focusing around here. Each time the phone rings, my stomach drops. There’s a sort of unsettledness that you feel when someone you love is slowly dying. Aside from the obvious emotional upheaval, there’s a constant sense of unfinished business, of things left…
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Summer in January
I live roughly in the angle formed by Lake Erie and Lake Ontario in Western New York. But, okay, when I really want sympathy, I tell people that I live near Buffalo, city of infamy, when it comes to winter. But today it’s almost 65 degrees outside, a new record. The sun is shining, the…
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Living and dying
“Live as if you were living a second time, and as though you had acted wrongly the first time.” -Viktor Frankl, author, neurologist, psychiatrist, and Holocaust survivor (1905-1997) Attending to the dying gives one a glimpse into the great retrospective of a life. As time winds down for my father-in-law, his life unfolds before us…
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Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes
My college roommate had a serious David Bowie obsession. Today I’ve been thinking of his song “Changes.” Turn and face the strange, ch-ch-changes. Facing change is essential if we are to grow and strengthen in our art. That song, Changes, marked a pivotal time in Bowie’s career, and became the first song of his to…
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Good rejections
I’ve been wondering lately if good rejections may have the power to paralyze a writer. Specifically, I’m referring to myself (of course) and the following lovely rejection from an editor who shall remain anonymous: Dear Ms. Akers: Thanks for sending your story to our magazine; sorry to be so delayed in our response. We like…
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