Not a straight line

Not a straight line

Many things in life are not linear. There may be a (long) incubation period before something — an idea or a skill — comes into fruition. Just as a new leaf develops for a while as a bud, before opening to reveal its form.  Patience and the process  In the human realm,...
So critical because you care

So critical because you care

The things that we really care about can be the hardest to do because we care so much. We can put immense pressure on ourselves to do it well —straightaway(!) — rather than engage in playful exploration. Our inner critic can be crippling.  Inner critic distracts  We...
The experience of creating

The experience of creating

What does it mean to create? The word conjures up all sorts of images from abstract art to founding a business. But, are its essential features clear? Importantly, what can we say about the experience of creating?   Out of nothing  The Late Middle English origin of...
Lost for words

Lost for words

Just because you cannot articulate something, it does not automatically mean that you don’t know what it is. Given how much we rely on language-based reasoning in modernity, you can forgive someone for falling into this trap. For not realising the limitations of...
Knowledge tribalism

Knowledge tribalism

Jung was not a Jungian. Keynes was not a Keynesian. Hayek was not Hayekian. Buddha was not a Buddhist. It is one thing to learn from the wise, it is quite another to restrict oneself to a particular school of thought when their supposed founders probably themselves...
It may quack like a duck, but..

It may quack like a duck, but..

It may walk like a duck, look like a duck and quack like a duck. But, it may still not be a duck if it does not feel like a duck. Modernity’s obsession with analytical reasoning has its benefits, however it can become problematic when it leads to narrow, reductionist...