Every tradition has its share of meaningless ritual, but the focus you bring to that ritual is anything BUT meaningless, as it is widely implied that a soul must be forged through repetition and discipline in order to channel higher glories.  Working out, keeping tidy, being on time…these are more than just tools for convenience or image.   When…

Through assiduous contemplation, it is possible to emerge unscathed from any critique, for you will have already examined yourself from that angle.  But in order to do this, you have to be willing to forge yourself before someone (or life) beats you to the punch. Even when nobody’s looking, even when I don’t feel like it,…

Those hard-earned stores of willpower/clarity gained through discipline and contemplation aren’t meant to be used for rosy and easygoing times; they’re meant for the times when you feel trapped and broken, when the right thing is impossibly hard to define, when there seems to be no escape.  But there will be grace; there will be…

Few things anger me more than when a hypocrite that tries to impose his/her standards on me, but I would be a fool to dismiss him/her.  Sometimes, the best advice is given by those without integrity, or those who have lived the mistakes I’m about to make.   No information merits blind dismissal.