Author Archives: John Swinburn

Another one of those odd nearly-sleepless nights. Here is it, barely past 4, and I’ve been awake for almost three hours and out of bed for a bit more than an hour. No matter how I tried to settle my … Continue reading →

As I emerged from sleep early this morning, an assertion about the contradictory nature of “hope,” made by Pema Chödrön came to mind. I did not recall her specific words, so I went in search of them. I found that … Continue reading →

Humans define life in ways that correspond to the ways in which we perceive the universe around us. One generally accepted definition is: a process that takes place in highly organized organic structures and is characterized by being preprogrammed, interactive, … Continue reading →

Some of the “words of wisdom” one encounters along the way are thought-provoking in ways that challenge one’s own beliefs. A skeptic’s worldview, while often seen through a  scratched grey film, can offset the optimist’s outlook by causing us to … Continue reading →

Artificial intelligence (AI) increasingly is in the news of late in light of concerns about the degree to which AI might interfere with the daily lives of people on Planet Earth. Generative tools that can produce voices, images, sounds, and … Continue reading →

Yesterday, my eldest brother sent me a link to some philosophical gems left by the Chilean writer, Roberto Bolaño, who died twenty years ago. It took me a while to process Ten Ideas by Roberto Bolaño (though I admit to … Continue reading →

When the color of the sky appears (to me) matte silver, I attribute its unusual character to a rare interaction between my eyes and my brain. Though I have never in those moments asked anyone else to describe the color … Continue reading →

This is published post number 4401. For some reason, the frenzied excitement I expected to feel with this post—or the previous one—did not materialize. Perhaps my sedate reaction to the milestone of yesterday’s post can be explained by its content; … Continue reading →

Once again, I slept late, thanks in no small part to regular meows and tail-chasings. That is to say, I was awake far too much and slept too little. And too late. Such is life. The day commences at its … Continue reading →

Daylight fills the forest outside. Here and there, branches and leaves highlighted by the sun’s rays appear to have sunlight aimed directly at them, accentuating a thousand different shades of bright yellows and greens and golds and browns. The surrounding, … Continue reading →

The experience of deep, life-altering sorrow can enable a person to develop a capability of providing solace to others who suffer emotional wounds of the same level. But that capability does not arise in everyone who goes through grief of … Continue reading →

An experiment: Place a freshly-sawn two-hundred-pound piece of an oak tree trunk on the granite floor of a well-constructed stone building. Place a newly-dead corpse of a two-hundred-pound human next to the hunk of wood. Finally, place a two-hundred-pound sack … Continue reading →

The commencement of the Anthropocene epoch, the third epoch of Quaternary Period, coincided roughly with my birth, though I take no credit for starting this new era. That having been said, I join eight billion other humans in taking responsibility … Continue reading →

Watching a soundless video of the Fagradalsfjal volcano in Iceland, which has been erupting for the past three days, inspires awe. The beauty of orange and white-hot molten lava, spraying into the air and splashing down on the mountainous terrain, … Continue reading →

Neither of the terms midwife and doula have satisfactory gender-neutral counterparts or synonyms. The same is true of handyman, though one could argue that helper and jack-of-all-trades are gender-neutral. But the “jack” in jack-of-all-trades seems rather gender-specific (masculine) to me. … Continue reading →

I spent ten or fifteen minutes this morning reading about life in and around a Buddhist monastery in West Orange, New Jersey. As I absorbed the story, written by Rachel Martin, thoughts in my head returned to some of my … Continue reading →

The muscles in my neck and shoulders feel like they are being stretched and twisted and pulled tight, as if badly frayed lengths of thick wire rope were clawing at me from the inside.  Maybe those pieces of wire rope … Continue reading →

For at least three days running, thunderstorms with heavy downpours came through late in the day. Sitting out of the deck during those evenings, feeling the growls of rolling thunder, is magical. Watching bolts of lightning strike somewhere nearby, followed … Continue reading →

An obligatory year or two of service to one’s country or community; that concept, which I once fiercely eschewed, long ago took permanent root in my brain. The service need not be in the military (and, in fact, I have … Continue reading →

I got up about an  hour and a half ago. It is hard for me to believe that much time has passed; I must have been in something of a daze for part of that period. I wonder whether it … Continue reading →

Reading an article that discussed a neurology professor’s discovery—that a man’s “out of body” experience could be traced to the anterior precuneus—caused me to remember a periodic mental/emotional experience I had when I was much younger; twenty-five or so, possibly … Continue reading →

I spent the morning of the Fourth of July last year—2022—in the emergency room of  St. Anthony’s Summit Hospital in Frisco, Colorado, a town adjacent to Silverthorne, Colorado. In hindsight, we probably should not have been in the midst of … Continue reading →

The activities of yesterday morning, into mid-day and beyond, ultimately led to an afternoon nap. That capped off a very pleasant day, but one which conflicted mightily with a pledge mi novia and I made earlier: to return to our … Continue reading →

My left shoulder is bothering me again. The cause could be a pulled muscle, over-stretched tendons, bone-against-bone chafing, simple arthritis, or one or more of dozens of other possibilities. The underlying cause does not matter, except to the extent that … Continue reading →

This afternoon, mi novia and I will host former neighbors, a couple who lived next door to me, for wine. We’ll then go for an earlier dinner to a nearby restaurant. Beforehand, we will take the necessary steps to ensure … Continue reading →