No plan, no purpose, just because--and that makes it all the more incredible. (photo by Jesse Gardner on Unsplash) When I was 24, I was living in the woods in a rural area outside of Chapel Hill, North Carolina. There were several small, cheap rental houses clustered together in a narrow clearing surrounded by a pine … Continue reading Second Principle- Just Because
Our everyday stories provide explanations for understanding, create meaning and agreement, validate the truth of our worldview, and also cause us pain and suffering. Historian Arthur Herman points out that the Allegory of the Cave “reveals a bitter truth: Most people prefer life in the cave.” In our modern technology-centric world, we receive a daily barrage of stories … Continue reading First Principle- Part 4
At every turn-- large and small-- we make the choice to take a closer look so we may see as clearly as possible or to look away and let "what is" remain obscured to us. It is the choice between clarity and obnubilation. (photo by Hasan Almasi on Unsplash) I didn't know the verb obnubilate. … Continue reading The Choice: Clarity or Obnubilation
Many great scientists were interested in some form of art before, or simultaneous to, their interest in science. Many of the greatest among them also studied philosophy. In art, science, and philosophy, we experience a wonder at the aesthetics of both nature and that which humans imagine and produce. The beauty permeates our awareness and we are left … Continue reading Science and Beauty- Reimagining and Undoing
Depending upon whether one follows the expansionist or the reductionist perspective, there are as many as eighteen and as few as four known species of Homo that have lived on this planet. In either case, there is only one living here today.{1} As the climate changes dramatically, a collective fear is that it will mean … Continue reading The Earth Changes But Persists
Stories in Everyday Life As we grow up and move out into the world, we do so with a partially-formed worldview. We try it out, operationalizing in our newly independent lives this set of mental pictures and narratives that explain what we are encountering and how we should engage within these encounters. Trial and error further develop … Continue reading First Principle- Part 3
At some time and in some place, most of us have had the feeling of walking right on top of the footsteps of people here much earlier than we are now. For me, this feeling can happen almost anywhere. I felt it when walking down an old wharf in Boston, thinking I may be walking upon … Continue reading Covering Shared Ground
PART 4—The Rise of Fast Fashion and Its Impact on People and the Planet; What Can You Do for Your Part? Much of the history of clothing, and cotton in particular, has been a harsh one for both humans and the environment. The millennia-long slave trade was furthered for cotton production in the United States, … Continue reading The Human and Climate Costs of Our Perpetually New Clothes- Part 4 (of 4)
PART 3—Going Global in the Late Twentieth and Early Twenty-First Century By the time the cotton mills in North Carolina were shut down, much of the country’s textile work had already moved overseas. But today, the United States is still the world’s second largest producer and exporter of raw cotton. Producing roughly 4,000 thousand metric … Continue reading The Human and Climate Costs of Our Perpetually New Clothes- Part 3 (of 4)
Part 2--The Long Road to Fast Fashion: US Textile Boom and Bust in the 20th Century By the end of the Civil War, two other factors, one huge in scale and the other household-sized, were changing the United States and its textile industries. One was the railroad and the other was the consumer-marketed sewing machine. … Continue reading The Human and Climate Costs of Our Perpetually New Clothes- Part 2 (of 4)
PART 1—The Long Road to Fast Fashion: Prehistory to 1920 Regularly on the move when I was a kid, we lived in many different regions of the United States—the Midwest, the West Coast, New England, the Southeast, and Texas. We lived in large, small and mid-sized cities, but always in the suburbs. It wasn’t until … Continue reading The Human and Climate Costs of Our Perpetually New Clothes- Part 1 (of 4)
I can vividly recall a most disturbing sensation I've experienced more than a few times. It would overtake me on those occasions when I found myself face to face with a reality that belied what I was certain I knew to be true. These weren't so much factual assertions as positions I held about life … Continue reading Ground Beneath My Feet
The Principles of Being 