Diary, it’s Tuesday, May 24th. We’ve already been to lots of places and have done bunches of stuff so far that I won’t list. The one thing everything had in common were the cameras. Hoards of people were snapping pictures with an almost mindless “I’ve been here” abandon. They looked like Borgs from Startrek, each [...]
May 23rd. Diary, I got up this morning thinking about Joseph Campbell who said we should follow our bliss. I think he’s right. Life in general, teaching in particular, is not about doing only what makes sense, not just transmitting information; more importantly, it’s also doing what makes rapture, what is meaningful, purposeful, fulfilling, satisfying. [...]
Diary, the 22nd is about to leave us. Have you ever thought about how people spend their precious feelings and thoughts? Today my heart and mind were focused on “mindful,” which is still my “Word for the Day” for the next few hours. Yeah, I take my cards with me wherever I go. Why do [...]
Diary, it’s the 21st. I did something this morning I have been resisting since we arrived in China. I went on the internet to check my e-mail. Well, let’s say, I gave it a shot. The computers to which we have access around here are archaic and slow, that is, those that aren’t down. Of [...]
Dear Dairy, Sunday, May 20. Short and sweet tonight. I wanna exercise beyond doing push-up and ab crunches, but it’s almost impossible to go on my pre-dawn morning meditative walks. I go out, take a few deep breaths and whatever is hanging in the polluted air makes my throat scratchy and my lungs think feline [...]
Diary, good evening. It’s Saturday, May 19. I’d like to continue this thing about being close with students because I think it’s very important, especially after talking with some Chinese students here at Zhengzhou. They are so surprised how approachable and accessible we are. They all seem to have this expansive chasm between them and [...]
