One of philosophy’s charms for me is the opportunity to think, as if for the first time, about the meaning of ideas essential to good living. What is good living? What is persistence? What is possibility? What is belonging? What is empathy? This constant reexamination widens our perspective and guards against our falling into the trap of stale assumptions and preconceptions. I can think of no idea that begs for rethinking more than the concept of success. What is it?
Read MoreMy friend and neighbor Blue O’Connell loves music, animals, nature (especially trees), and friends. A few years ago, she traded a job with financial benefits for one with other kinds of perks: writing and playing music at schools, nursing homes, hospitals, parties, just about any place. She patches jobs together to make ends meet. Recently Blue bought happiness for herself and for countless others by giving a valuable possession away.
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When Lucille Clifton asks, “won’t you celebrate with me,” we answer yes. What does this Black woman decide when she finds no model for how to create her life? “what did i see but to be myself?” she responds. The poet fastens her hands and makes her life of “starshine and clay.” What does a boy from the staunchly-segregated south long to do before he dies? Jimmy Carter casts his ballot for Kamala Harris. Won’t you celebrate the 39th president with me?