Category Archives: Philosophy

Mediterranean Course Correction

Posted on January 12, 2020 by John Swinburn

I inquired of Google this morning: “What is the Mediterranean lifestyle?” The first answer I found—and the one I intend on adapting as my own—was this, from a blog entitled, The Mediterranean Dish in a post labeled Live the Mediterranean … Continue reading →

Posted in Change, Compassion, Doing Without, Empathy, Generosity, Philosophy, Ruminations, Self-discipline, Selfishness | Leave a comment

Through the Mist

Posted on January 7, 2020 by John Swinburn

I feel slightly more human this morning than I’ve felt the last few days. I’m not sure that’s a good thing, though. Feeling human means something different for me than it once did. No longer is it a matter of … Continue reading →

Posted in Health, Philosophy, Religion | 2 Comments

Modesty or Something Like It

Posted on December 15, 2019 by John Swinburn

Am I being modest when I insist on wearing a shirt to the door when I answer a knock? Or is the issue really embarrassment at my physical appearance? I suppose I could try to imagine that I inhabit a … Continue reading →

Posted in Nudity, Philosophy | Leave a comment

Transformative Places

Posted on December 8, 2019 by John Swinburn

Wherever we go, when we settle in we take on attributes caused by the place. We change, at least a little, to reflect the way a place we live changes us. And often, maybe usually, we don’t recognize the change … Continue reading →

Posted in Change, Essay, Philosophy | Leave a comment

Scale

Posted on November 26, 2019 by John Swinburn

A July 23, 2003 article in The Telegraph touches on the scope of what we see through telescopes in a clear, dark night sky: There are 10 times more stars in the night sky than grains of sand in the … Continue reading →

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Keepers of Private Notebooks

Posted on November 4, 2019 by John Swinburn

Yesterday, I read parts of something Joan Didion wrote in 1968, entitled, “On Keeping a Notebook.”  One excerpt in particular struck a chord with me: Keepers of private notebooks are a different breed altogether, lonely and resistant rearrangers of things, … Continue reading →

Posted in Philosophy, Writing | Leave a comment

On Time

Posted on October 9, 2019 by John Swinburn

Days race by, behaving as if the clock hurries to complete its tasks quickly, lest time render the hands of the clock unable to accurately measure the duration of the unfolding of experience. There will come a moment, or perhaps it … Continue reading →

Posted in Philosophy, Time | Leave a comment

Adequately Altruistic or Acquisitive

Posted on October 7, 2019 by John Swinburn

Among other difficulties with wealth redistribution programs is the problem that involves reaching agreement on the definitions of two adjectives: “enough” and “too much.” If we could achieve collective accord on what constitutes enough and how much is too much, … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, Philosophy | Leave a comment

Exploring an Empty Barrel

Posted on September 28, 2019 by John Swinburn

I spent part of the last hour of this morning reading bits and pieces of about six months’ worth of newsletters from the Lake Chapala Unitarian Universalist Fellowship. I’m not sure just why I found my way there. I started … Continue reading →

Posted in Friendship, Philosophy, Religion, Stream of Consciousness | Leave a comment

Learning Something Every Day

Posted on August 31, 2019 by John Swinburn

I spent much of the day yesterday in tourist-host mode, first accompanying a visiting friend to bathhouse row in Hot Springs, followed by a short stroll along Central Avenue, popping into a few shops and otherwise behaving as a tourist … Continue reading →

Posted in Friendship, History, Philosophy | Leave a comment

Compensatory Existence

Posted on August 30, 2019 by John Swinburn

I compensate for my shortcomings. If I can. And it’s not always possible. Sometimes, my shortcomings are so extensive, so overwhelming, that it’s simply impossible to overcome them. It feels like I’m trying to perform an appendectomy on an uncooperative … Continue reading →

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My Children

Posted on August 24, 2019 by John Swinburn

Until last night, I’d never thought of what my child might have been like, had I fathered children. I’d never even thought about the “what if” before. Whether a daughter or a son, I’d never considered another human being carrying … Continue reading →

Posted in Fantasy, Philosophy | Leave a comment

Intellectual Refraction

Posted on August 16, 2019 by John Swinburn

My college sociology classes exposed me to concepts of social deviance I had never encountered in the “real world.” Once exposed to those concepts, I looked at the world through a different set of eyes. No longer could behaviors be … Continue reading →

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When Is It Wrong to Ask Questions and Express Opinions?

Posted on July 22, 2019 by John Swinburn

A dust-up occurred earlier this year among certain people of influence in the loosely-woven halls of power of a minor religious denomination that I choose not to name. The brouhaha erupted over publication of an essay that recounted a woman’s … Continue reading →

Posted in Philosophy | 2 Comments

Certainty

Posted on July 21, 2019 by John Swinburn

Once a mind is made up, irrevocably, it becomes unbending and brittle. It becomes subject to irreversible rupture when irrefutable, contrary facts present themselves. When evidence—that an immutable decision was based on fallacy—is impossible to ignore, the mind shatters into  … Continue reading →

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Incompatible with Life

Posted on July 19, 2019 by John Swinburn

Thinking deeply about matters thought cannot change constitutes either wasted energy or vital mental exercise or both. Yet even the assertion that thought cannot bring about change induces change. The contention that any thought is wasted spurs the mind to … Continue reading →

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State of Flux

Posted on July 14, 2019 by John Swinburn

You know who I was, not who I am. I am in a state of flux, a man engaged in constant mutation from one form to another. Every breath I take in leaves a different person’s mouth. The change takes … Continue reading →

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Ćevapčići

Posted on June 30, 2019 by John Swinburn

Last night’s dinner consisted of ćevapčići (pronounced, as best as I can determine, “chevopcheche”), sliced purple onion, and sliced tomatoes. I made the ćevapčići from a pound of 80/20 ground beef, one-third of a cup of lukewarm water, and a … Continue reading →

Posted in Food, Philosophy | Leave a comment

Compassion for Monsters

Posted on June 22, 2019 by John Swinburn

Feeling compassion for people whose ill will and animosity shine like beacons of hate is not easy. But it may be necessary. If we are to have any hope of healing the divisions that have brought the world to the … Continue reading →

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Time is Money

Posted on June 19, 2019 by John Swinburn

Time is money. That apothegm means, to most of us, that time is a valuable resource and, as such, it is better to do things as quickly as possible. But I also see it from another perspective. That is, one … Continue reading →

Posted in Language, Philosophy | Leave a comment

The Appeal of Doubt and Uncertainty

Posted on June 17, 2019 by John Swinburn

Yesterday morning, after the regular church service, I watched and listened to a TED Talk entitled “The Gospel of Doubt,” delivered by Casey Gerald. Hearing Gerald’s words was like listening in on my own thoughts. But I have nothing in … Continue reading →

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Someone Else

Posted on June 16, 2019 by John Swinburn

Can you remember who you were before the world told you who you should be? I came upon this pithy aphorism-in-the-form-of-a-question while I was searching for the words of a common platitude that admonishes us to refrain from comparing ourselves … Continue reading →

Posted in Depression, Philosophy | Leave a comment

Drenched in Thought

Posted on June 12, 2019 by John Swinburn

In mid-November 2012 (and many other times, before and after) I wrote a little about why I find Buddhism refreshing. Among my thoughts seven years ago was this one: It (Buddhism) is a refreshing perspective,  far more appealing to me … Continue reading →

Posted in Philosophy, Religion | Leave a comment

In the Absence of Proof

Posted on June 10, 2019 by John Swinburn

In the absence of proof there is no truth. Lacking incontrovertible evidence, every experience is a lie, every memory is created in a cracked vacuum suddenly filled with biased fiction. Evidence cannot prove an event never occurred, so whether it … Continue reading →

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Darkness

Posted on April 7, 2019 by John Swinburn

Darkness. I go to sleep in darkness and I awaken in darkness. But it’s not total darkness. It’s near-darkness, punctuated by pinpoints of light. The thermostat, the kitchen stove, the bedside alarm clock, the modem, and other devices that alert … Continue reading →

Posted in Emotion, Philosophy | Leave a comment