kar0ling

*warning: half baked moralizing to follow.* “___ did what?!?! How could s/he....?!?” Oh, the outrage. You can’t turn around with finding something or someone to be outraged about. First off, I’m guilty. Secondly, there actually is plenty to be genuinely upset about. However, I don’t respond well to being yelled at. I don’t like the worst being assumed of me. I don’t appreciate being judged on the basis of very little information. And it’s probably fair to assume others feel the same way. There are plenty of injustices and just plain bad practices in the world worthy of being remarked on.  But quite possibly it will be more constructive if we stay calm, avoid insults, and try to understand the motivations behind the actions we are quick to denounce. I daresay we might find a bunch of teachable moments – for all of us. So, I’m trying to learn to check my instinct for indignation.  What is being reported and by whom?  What other perspectiv...

“I’m trained in poetry and rap; it’s all about brevity,” said Shad. His formal contribution to the Slater Maguire lecture series at St Margaret’s was probably the shortest speech one of their presenters had ever given, but it left much time for questions and a bit of a relaxing evening left over. No need to belabour the matter. Brevity may have also led Shad to his catchy title for the talk...which he confessed to having later realized may have sounded threatening. “What are you afraid of?” wasn’t mean to be a belligerent challenge but a gentle call to examine whether the things we fear will kill us or disappear as illusion. After offering the answer “everything” to the first question, “mostly imagination, to be sure,” is my answer to the second. But that doesn’t make the fears any more surmountable. It’ll either kill you or free you, he says. Cold comfort. Sometimes freedom is as frightening as death. The safety of shackled mundanity does not easily relinquish its grip. ...