Category Archives: Philosophy

Let Us Prey

Posted on August 12, 2020 by John Swinburn

Give me a minute. I’ll get to my point before long, but I have to set it up, first. According to the app on my smartphone, it took me only a minute to fall asleep just over half an hour … Continue reading →

Posted in Essay, Philosophy | Leave a comment

Future Present Imperfect

Posted on July 27, 2020 by John Swinburn

At some point in the future, I hope a significant majority of humankind simultaneously will come to realize the futility of conquest. They will once again understand, as our ancient ancestors probably did, that serenity depends in part on leaving … Continue reading →

Posted in Philosophy | 2 Comments

Night Walker

Posted on July 25, 2020 by John Swinburn

Earlier this year, in one of my stream-of-consciousness blathers, I mentioned the idea of mounting a television to a treadmill, enabling me to watch an odd mix of television series and made-for-Netflix movies while getting some exercise. If I did … Continue reading →

Posted in Philosophy, Writing | Leave a comment

Where Decency Thrives and Compassion Flourishes

Posted on July 16, 2020 by John Swinburn

A friend left a comment here recently, suggesting that some countries’ cultures have a gentler view of the world than ours. That is so true. Our culture evolved from hard-nosed individualism, shedding compassion along the way as if the desire … Continue reading →

Posted in Compassion, Health, Kindness, Philosophy, Selfishness | 1 Comment

Don’t Stop Thinking About Tomorrow

Posted on July 9, 2020 by John Swinburn

Back to my old habits. Up before 4:00 a.m., ready to face the day. The tune and lyrics to an old song were among my first thoughts this morning: Well everybody’s heart needs a holiday, some time And everyone of … Continue reading →

Posted in Memories, Music, Philosophy | Leave a comment

Escapism

Posted on July 4, 2020 by John Swinburn

I said recently my writing is, for me, escapism. Escape from what, though? Specifically, from what does writing allow me to escape? When I insist on an answer, I feel like I’m taking on the identity of an unwilling patient, … Continue reading →

Posted in Patriotism, Philosophy | 2 Comments

The World Around Me

Posted on July 2, 2020 by John Swinburn

When I walked out onto the deck this morning, the air felt like cracked, bone dry leather and heavily used, fine-grit sandpaper. Yet the density of extremely high humidity was unmistakable, a set of oddly conflicting sensations that felt natural. … Continue reading →

Posted in Philosophy | 2 Comments

A Course in Calamities

Posted on July 1, 2020 by John Swinburn

Before I begin, I note that my Google calendar tells me I have a pre-procedure check-in at CHI St. Vincent tomorrow morning. The procedure, a cystoscopy and biopsy of the lining of the bladder, under general anesthesia, takes place next … Continue reading →

Posted in Philosophy | 1 Comment

Better

Posted on June 13, 2020 by John Swinburn

Looking up into the canopy of the forest, I find it hard to distinguish between individual leaves. There are too many overlapping shades of green between shadows and sunlight for me to clearly differentiate one leaf from another. I look … Continue reading →

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The Way Forward

Posted on May 6, 2020 by John Swinburn

I wrote just yesterday that I recognized the need to steer clear of social media and engagements that trigger my unpleasant reactions to deeply offensive humans. But part of my day yesterday was devoted to fruitless efforts to educate the … Continue reading →

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Attractive Definitions

Posted on April 27, 2020 by John Swinburn

A dictionary’s second definition of metaphysics is the one that pleases me most: Philosophy, especially in its more abstruse branches. The corresponding definition of the primary adjectival form, metaphysical, pleases me just as much: Concerned with abstract thought or subjects, as … Continue reading →

Posted in Mathematics, Philosophy, Physics, Time | Leave a comment

Self-Care in Isolation

Posted on April 25, 2020 by John Swinburn

I had to search a while for the source of the list that prompted the modified version below.  A friend posted it on her Facebook feed; it took me some time even to find that post. Then, it was not … Continue reading →

Posted in Covid-19, Philosophy | Leave a comment

Testosterone Poisoning

Posted on April 21, 2020 by John Swinburn

A friend, when describing the affliction whose symptoms are characterized by machismo, also known as extreme masculine hyper-sensitivity, uses the sobriquet “testosterone poisoning.” I think the term describes the infirmity quite nicely. Until I heard the phrase, I did not … Continue reading →

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Big Dreams and Facing Facts

Posted on April 19, 2020 by John Swinburn

Facts often block the way for wishes, desires, and dreams. Facts dig wide trenches between here and there…between now and then…filling the channels with acid and alligators and creatures hungry to tear hopes into lifeless memories. Those damn facts! Why … Continue reading →

Posted in Ideas, Justice, Philosophy | Leave a comment

December 29, 2019

Posted on April 18, 2020 by John Swinburn

I’ve decided to post some of my unposted items from months gone by. Sometimes, reading my words from times gone by helps me understand how I think; if that’s what it is. I will use my writing time today to … Continue reading →

Posted in Philosophy, Time | Leave a comment

Ethereal Normal

Posted on April 15, 2020 by John Swinburn

The concept of “normal” is fiction. There is no steady state that conveys a sense of normalcy. Normalcy can be understood only in a context of unending change. Chaos, in other words. The moment we think we have entered a … Continue reading →

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Love Letters

Posted on March 28, 2020 by John Swinburn

I tend to keep personal letters I receive in the mail, whether handwritten or typewritten. Maybe my practice is driven by their rarity. Or perhaps they offer evidence someone thought I was worth the time and energy required to write … Continue reading →

Posted in Communication, Just Thinking, Philosophy | 2 Comments

Dimensions

Posted on March 25, 2020 by John Swinburn

I tell myself I am not superstitious. I say I dismiss the concept that coincidences have “meaning.” There is absolutely no reason to believe that, when I think about a person with enough focus, enough intensity, that person will reciprocate … Continue reading →

Posted in Ideas, Intellect, Philosophy | Leave a comment

What I am Learning, Even Today, from Steinbeck

Posted on March 22, 2020 by John Swinburn

The Grapes of Wrath. I remember (though indistinctly, as if through a heavy fog) reading Steinbeck’s classic novel depicting the struggles of Depression-era Dust Bowl migrations. What I remember clearly about the story, though, is the intensity of Jim Casy’s … Continue reading →

Posted in Philosophy | 2 Comments

Confronting Two Enemies

Posted on March 14, 2020 by John Swinburn

In the wake of a growing concern about a mysterious disease, when will a gnawing worry evolve into fear? What incident will cause fear to mushroom into terror, breeding deep suspicion of anyone outside our immediate circle? At what point … Continue reading →

Posted in Covid-19, Depression, Health, Hope, Philosophy | Leave a comment

Musings on Politics, People, Society, and the Almost Certainly Impossible

Posted on March 3, 2020 by John Swinburn

I do not worry that electing a left-leaning candidate like Bernie Sanders or Elizabeth Warren would lead to economic catastrophe. Nor do I worry that electing a centrist like Biden would embed a Republican-light approach to government for the foreseeable … Continue reading →

Posted in Philosophy, Politics | Leave a comment

Perils of Finding Solace in Food

Posted on February 29, 2020 by John Swinburn

When my concerns are too personal and too emotional to share with those closest to me—even with myself—I tend to turn my thoughts to food. It’s no mistake that the word “comfort” is so often associated with food. Whether a … Continue reading →

Posted in Emotion, Food, Pain, Philosophy | Leave a comment

Here and Now

Posted on February 28, 2020 by John Swinburn

Time and distance no longer matter when the only moment is now and the only place is here. Memories lose their grip on the soul at that juncture. All existence takes place in the present; neither the past nor the … Continue reading →

Posted in Peace, Philosophy, Serenity | Leave a comment

A Fleeting Period of Perpetual Rain

Posted on February 12, 2020 by John Swinburn

Endless sunshine always is interrupted by fleeting periods of perpetual rain. The weather has always been this way. The everlasting pattern of dark and wet, then bright and dry, will continue forever, until it ends. Everything is impermanent and has … Continue reading →

Posted in Philosophy, Weather | Leave a comment

The Question is a Serpent

Posted on February 5, 2020 by John Swinburn

Dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life I ask myself the question over and over and over and over, hoping to one day find an answer: “Who am I, under the veneer?” It hasn’t even been a … Continue reading →

Posted in Philosophy, Ruminations | Leave a comment